The Hostage Bride
by Bill K
Summary: A Neo Sailor Moon adventure: Usa's getting married, but it isn't to Helios and it isn't her idea.
1. Visitors from Space

THE HOSTAGE BRIDE

Chapter 1: "Visitors From Space"  
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

Sailor Moon and all related characters are (c)2007 by Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha and Toei Animation and are used without permission, but with respect. Story is (c)2007 by Bill K.

* * *

Crystal Tokyo, July 7, 2997: The kingdom was abuzz with news and activity. It was Tanabata Festival time and the Crystal Tokyo palace grounds had been opened up by Queen Serenity to accommodate Rei's annual festival. Over the centuries, the festival had grown in size and scope until it seemed to encompass the entire city. There were enough games, food booths and attractions on the palace grounds to entertain everyone who came, as well as satellite festivals in the retail district and in all the parks scattered around the city. These were necessary because not everyone could fit in the palace grounds. Tanabata Festival was always a wonderful time for the people. It was due to Rei's diligence in organizing things. It was due to the Queen's exuberance for festival, for the romantic legends surrounding Tanabata, and the happy times they recalled and the new happy memories they always inspired. And it was due to the people themselves, who seemed genuinely pleased when they made their beloved Queen Serenity happy. 

On top of this, there was the recent landing of emissaries from an alien world. At first the craft landing in the promenade near the palace was cause for much alarm among the citizens, for the memories of Prince Dimando and his invasion force were only twelve years old. They worried even when Queen Serenity and King Endymion, flanked by the senshi, came out to meet the craft without fear and only some suspicion. But the delegation that emerged professed to want only peaceful relations between the two cultures. It was welcome news both to Serenity and to the population, though Uranus and Neptune remained suspicious.

"Aren't you two ready yet?" rumbled Ves-Ves in the palace quarters she shared with her three "sister" Amazons.

"Don't rush me! This has to look just so!" Cere-Cere shot back. She had Palla-Palla in a chair and was applying crystal rouge to the girl's lips with a forced air applicator. Reflexively she shot her sister a glance. "And where's your kimono?"

"I'm not wearing no stupid kimono," grumbled Ves-Ves.

"But it won't make you look like a sissy," Palla-Palla replied innocently.

"Get out of my head!" snapped Ves-Ves.

"Yeah, what do you want to do, die of loneliness," Cere-Cere added.

"Palla-Palla is sorry. Her concentration slipped," Palla-Palla offered contritely. Then Ves-Ves caught a hint of a smirk and knew the girl had done it on purpose. She gave her sister a silent warning.

"Don't smile, you'll mess me up," Cere-Cere said, continuing to make up her sister's face. "You know, you might catch more boys if you'd try being a girl."

"I do well enough," Ves-Ves huffed.

"There! Done!" Cere-Cere proclaimed. She stood back and Palla-Palla hopped out of the chair.

"How does Palla-Palla look, Ves-Ves?" Palla-Palla asked earnestly.

"You look good, Stupid," Ves-Ves nodded. "Real mature."

"Thank you very much," Palla-Palla nodded. She paused for a moment. "And don't worry, Palla-Palla knows not to listen to boys who tell her nice things like that, because they only want her panties."

Cere-Cere turned to Ves-Ves with a fisheye look.

"I'm getting out of here before she finds out what I dreamed last night," Ves-Ves grumbled.

"Palla-Palla knows that, too. She didn't know you liked wrestling," Palla-Palla replied innocently.

"Wrestling?" Cere-Cere asked, her confusion evident.

"Yes," Palla-Palla replied earnestly. "But maybe you shouldn't wrestle boys, Ves-Ves. He must have really hurt you, because you were screaming very loudly."

Cere-Cere snickered as Ves-Ves ducked out the door.

Outside, Ves-Ves wandered around the palace grounds. All the festival booths were ready and waiting for the festival to open at noon. Minako was on the stage going through one last rehearsal. She was the head-liner of the night's entertainment, and from the looks of her silver sequined, low-cut, high hemmed dress it was going to be a typical Minako Aino knockout performance. Smiling and nodding to herself, Ves-Ves stuffed her hands into the pockets of her maroon cockpit pressure pants and watched.

Just then, someone rode up on a "hover bike". Basically a small grade anti-gravity engine with steering bars, a seat and a small forced air propulsion unit in the back, it was the thirtieth century equivalent to a motorcycle. Astride the bike was a female wearing a form fitting black pilot suit made of protective stress-fiber mesh and a tinted helmet. The bike eased up next to Ves-Ves and stopped. The rider pulled off her helmet.

"Jun?" gasped Ves-Ves.

"You like it?" chortled Jun-Jun. "I just bought it."

"You bought a hover bike?"

"Yeah! And Ves, you should feel it when I open this thing up, especially over a body of water! It is the limit!"

"YOU," Ves-Ves repeated, "bought a hover bike?"

"So? They're not dangerous if you've got good balance and know what you're doing! And I've always had the most balance of the four of us. It's no more dangerous than being on the high wire."

"Miss Goody Two-Shoes bought a hover bike?"

"Charming as always, I see," scowled Jun-Jun.

"I thought you were over him," Ves-Ves said with a critical eye. "Does this has something to do with Tanabata?"

Melancholy colored Jun-Jun's face and she glanced down. Instantly Ves-Ves regretted bringing the subject up.

"I'm never going to be over Quad. Tanabata's got nothing to do with it," Jun-Jun mumbled. She sighed. "But I've accepted he's gone." She smiled a slightly haunted smile. "Maybe I'll see him at Bon. And maybe this does have something to do with missing him. All of a sudden I need a little excitement in my life, you know? Like the old days? I guess Quad awakened that in me."

She caught the worried expression on Ves-Ves.

"Don't worry," Jun-Jun grinned. "I'm not going to be playing chicken with cargo freighters or anything like that. There are legal ways of getting excitement. It's just - - when I'm speeding along on this bike, it feels like I'm free. Free of the responsibilities of being the good little girl and surrogate mother to you three delinquents. And sometimes it feels like - - like Quad's riding beside me. Am I making any sense?"

"No," Ves-Ves dead-panned. "But what else is new? Hey, I'm not much for telling people what to do. If you need to do it, do it. I'll back you."

Jun-Jun smiled and held out her index finger. Ves-Ves nonchalantly touched the tip with her own finger.

"Just don't let Palla-Palla near it, huh?" Ves-Ves added.

"Deal," smirked Jun-Jun.

* * *

Luna and Artemis turned to the sight of Queen Serenity gliding into the Royal Reception Room of the palace. Accompanying her were Sailor Jupiter and the three members of the Zachar Alliance delegation. They walked behind the Queen at a respectful three paces.

The lead Zacharian, Telmar, smiled benignly as he followed the Queen. The Zacharians were basically humanoid, with some differences from Earth humans. They possessed only three fingers on each hand along with an opposable thumb. Their skin was light blue and their eyes orbs of deep crimson. Their hair was dark blue and their eyebrows pointed up rather than curve around the eye. And their ears pointed. Beyond that, they could be Earth natives.

The two Zacharians behind Telmar were bigger and more muscular than their slight lead. Luna wondered who was more typical of the race, Telmar or his aides. All three wore black military-style uniforms, complete with stiff collars, epaulets, belts and boots that encouraged stiffness and conformity. The adornments were silver, as were the cuffs on the long-sleeve tunics. The cat noted that Telmar had four red stripes on his silver cuffs while his aides only possessed one - - a symbol of rank, no doubt. She also noted that, though all three visitors were unarmed, there were clips on the wide belts for weaponry attachments.

"Telmar, I must apologize for the manner of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune on today's tour," Queen Serenity offered as she sat on the room's throne.

"Not at all, Queen Serenity," Telmar replied with practiced graciousness. He bowed slightly to her, but remembered her admonishment when they first met about referring to her as "Your Majesty". "They are your guardians. It is their task to be suspicious of all strangers. How else may they be prepared to perform their duties?"

"Well, you're very understanding. I appreciate that," Serenity smiled. "How did you like your tour of Crystal Tokyo?"

"It is a fine achievement for you and your people," Telmar replied, passing a hand over his slicked back blue hair. "And it was clear from the reception we received that you are a much beloved ruler. Never in all my travels have I seen such devotion from a people for their ruling class."

"Perhaps it's because I think of myself as a leader and not a ruler," Serenity suggested gently, "and only because the people have chosen me to lead."

"A curious situation, to my experience," Telmar offered, "but the results are indisputable. Perhaps it is the person and not the system which makes the arrangement work. There is no doubt to your personal magnetism."

Serenity blushed.

"Your offer of diplomatic relations, then, is still valid?" Luna interjected, trying to steer the meeting away from empty praise. Telmar again seemed startled, as Luna recalled he was the first time she spoke to him.

"You'll forgive me, Queen Serenity," Telmar recovered. "I'm still not used to seeing an intelligent animal capable of speaking to me." He glanced to Luna. "Our tour has only reinforced our desire to add the Earth to our circle of allies. A relationship between our two cultures can only be beneficial."

"I'm glad to hear that," Serenity said. "But I must caution you again, I don't speak for the entire planet. I can go before the World Congress, present your offer and give my endorsement. But the ultimate decision is theirs, not mine."

Telmar smiled indulgently. "We are aware of this. Your planet and cultures were observed before we ventured to land, for it wouldn't do to land an emissary in a potentially hostile situation. We are familiar with your cultural hierarchy. It's just that you undervalue your influence on this world, Queen Serenity. We have come to realize that you are the single most influential person on this planet. Your modesty prevents you from acknowledging this, but it is true. We have little doubt that you would be able to persuade the rest of this world to your way of thinking."

"I'm not so sure about that," Serenity demurred. "I've been trying for a thousand years and I haven't succeeded yet."

"I think you can persuade the majority, at least," Telmar replied with a silky manner. "You would be surprised at what an individual may do if the cause is important enough."

"Your confidence in me is gratifying," Serenity said diplomatically. "Now enough stuffy business. Would you and your aides like to attend our Tanabata Festival? I promise you'll have a good time."

"One of my aides, unfortunately, has business to attend to," Telmar replied, "but I would be honored to accept. Will I have the good fortune of your company, Queen Serenity, and that of your striking husband and daughter?"

"I'm sure I can pry Endymion away from whatever he's doing," Serenity told him sweetly. "My daughter won't be able to accompany us. But I guarantee you'll see her."

Telmar bowed and left, followed by his aides. Jupiter escorted them to their quarters. Meanwhile, Luna eased up to Artemis.

"Have you or the King found anything?" Luna asked surreptitiously.

"No," Artemis shook his head. "Nothing to the contrary - - in fact, nothing at all on this Zacharian Alliance." The cat shrugged. "Maybe they're just what they say they are."

"Perhaps," Luna murmured, a worried look on her face.

"What's the matter? You sensing something?"

"No. It's just that - - Serenity is so utterly trusting, that sometimes I think I overcompensate in the opposite direction just to balance her. Am I being as paranoid as the outers just because they're from another galaxy?"

"Well, it doesn't hurt to be cautious, I guess," Artemis shrugged. "Especially where Serenity's concerned. But we haven't seen Pluto. If she joined Uranus and Neptune, I'd worry. Since she hasn't seen fit to leave the Door Of Time, maybe it's just them being paranoid. It's not like it's never happened before."

Luna only emitted a pensive sigh. Artemis could tell he hadn't managed to ease her troubled mind.

* * *

"Are we just being paranoid?" Michiru asked absently.

She and Haruka were enjoying the shade from the July sun. The humidity was creeping in early this season and the shaded spot along the palace outer perimeter was a welcome refuge. The two outers leisurely watched the final preparations for the palace's contribution to Tanabata. Off to one side, Rei was shouting instructions to the stage crew, dressed in a sleek black protective body suit rather than her normal priest robes.

"Not if they're up to something," Haruka replied stonily. That drew an amused expression from Michiru.

"All these years later and you still just see the world in black and white," she grinned.

"You told me once that the clearest pictures are usually in black and white," Haruka quipped, gratified that she had wrung a smile from her mate's concern.

"So, if they're up to something, what is it?"

"I don't know. That hasn't developed yet."

"Haruka, puns are beneath you."

"I'd rather you were beneath me," the lanky blonde leered.

"That's another thing that hasn't changed in a thousand years," Michiru observed wryly. "Well, I guess we'll just have to keep our eyes open and . . ."

Michiru felt Haruka's hand close on hers urgently. Her line of sight immediately went to Haruka's eyes, then followed her stare when she saw Haruka wasn't looking at her. Across the compound by the far perimeter, a figure was moving away from the palace and toward the city. He was moving in a way that suggested he was trying to hurry without being noticed.

"See him?" Haruka asked.

"Yes. It's one of that Zacharian's aides," Michiru replied. "And he's not wearing his uniform. I wonder where he's headed."

"One way to find out," Haruka concluded. As one, she and Michiru produced their henshin sticks.

Surreptitiously the Zacharian moved through the crowds more concerned with festival than him. It was impossible to disguise his blue skin and hair, but he was dressed in a common brown tunic and slacks and when he kept moving the throngs quickly forgot about him. His journey took him into Naru Park just off the promenade. Though there were booths being set up in the park as well and the trees were decorated with colored paper streamers, there were enough trees in the park to allow him to keep out of sight.

Or so he thought.

"What's he doing?" Sailor Uranus posed as she observed the Zacharian from her tree limb perch. "It's almost like he doesn't have a destination in mind."

"I doubt he's that familiar with the terrain," Sailor Neptune replied, her concentration riveted on their quarry. "Perhaps this is some sort of reconnaissance mission. I'd be interested to know for what."

"He's on the move again," Uranus observed. She and Neptune leaped from one tree to another as silently as possible.

The Zacharian wove through the trees on the periphery of the festival area. Once he looked back and the outers thought they had been spotted. But he continued on and they concluded he hadn't. Reaching a spot among some old growth trees near the north fence, the Zacharian stopped. He reached under his tunic and brought out a small device. Kneeling at the base of a tree, the alien began to pull up dirt. Once a small hole was dug, he gently eased the device into the depression. He was about to smooth the dirt back over it when the silvery blade of a bejeweled cutlass appeared across his face under his nose. The Zacharian looked up.

"Mind telling me what that is?" Sailor Uranus asked. She towered over the kneeling alien and her hand tightly gripped the hilt of the Space Sword.

The Zacharian's response was to lunge forward. He drove his shoulder into the knee of Uranus. Though she tried to dance out of the way, he caught part of her leg and toppled the woman. Uranus tried to recover, but the alien was faster than she anticipated. He was on his feet before she had regained hers and was crouched to attack.

"Deep Submerge!" rang through the small glen, followed by a torrent of water. It cascaded into the Zacharian and, though he resisted mightily, swept him off his feet and into the north fence. The alien fell to his knees as Uranus ran up.

Again Uranus underestimated the burly humanoid's quickness. He launched himself up from his knees and caught Uranus with his fist. The woman spun back and to the ground. Neptune started to attack again, but stopped short when her opponent drew a sword from under his tunic. It was then that the holographic cover faded and his brown tunic and slacks changed into the black and silver uniform they were more familiar with. This time, Neptune noted, there was a sword scabbard and other attachments on the wide black belt.

The sword pointed at Neptune, but she was twelve feet away from the tip. Preparing for a charge, Neptune instead was suddenly buffeted by concentrated sonic waves produced by the sword. While the sound pierced her ears painfully, the displacement of air from the waves themselves was like a blow from a fist. Neptune fell back against a tree and tried to summon enough strength to throw off the attack and counter.

That was when Uranus stepped back into the picture. The Space Sword clattered against the blade of the sonic sword and knocked it away from Neptune. The alien's response was to swing the sword back at Uranus, for while it delivered a sonic blast, the sword also possessed a very deadly edge to it. Uranus parried the slash and then thrust with her sword, a weapon that possessed a sharp edge of its own in addition to its hidden properties. The two combatants engaged in a very short duel, ending up straining against each other for leverage, sword blades pressed to one another. A thrust from the alien's massive shoulders sent Uranus staggering back The alien brought up his sword to attack.

"Space Sword Blaster!" Uranus called out.

Energy arcs shot out from the blade of her cutlass. Two were caught by the alien's sword, but the third caught his hand and disarmed him. Pressing her advantage, Uranus charged in. She pinned the alien against the north fence, her blade pressed to his high collar.

"Now what's this all about?" demanded Uranus. "TALK!"

Unseen by Uranus, the alien's undamaged hand moved to his belt.

"URANUS!" Neptune shouted. "HE'S GOING TO HIS BELT!"

Shoving away, Uranus leaped back to a fighting stance, her blade at the ready. But the alien was suddenly filled with enough blue-white electricity to light up the park. His body shook for moments, convulsing with the energy coursing through him. Then he collapsed into the grass, dead.

"Suicide in the face of capture and interrogation?" Neptune concluded. "That hardly sounds like someone with peaceful intentions."

Turning on her heel, Neptune walked over to the device the Zacharian was burying. Uranus followed, ignoring the crowd that had gathered. Uranus peered over Neptune's shoulder at the device.

"What is it?" Uranus inquired. "Some kind of bomb?"

"Well, I'm hardly a mechanical engineer," Neptune replied, staring intently at the device, "but this thing doesn't even look like it's working."

"Better call CDP. They've probably got someone who knows how to deal with this."

Neptune nodded and Uranus went to make the call. She continued to stare. It made no sense. Why go to elaborate efforts, even to the point of suicide, just to plant an inert device?

Continued in Chapter 2


	2. Festival

THE HOSTAGE BRIDE

Chapter 2: "Festival"

By Bill K.

The Princess Usagi, Heir to the throne of Crystal Tokyo - - Usa to anyone who feared her wrath - - walked down the corridor of the palace to the changing room on the ground floor. She was followed by her gray cat, Diana. The Princess walked absently as she mentally rehearsed the lyrics for the song she was going to sing first in the Tanabata Festival being held. She'd volunteered for an eight song set to kick off the festival's entertainment stage, knowing Rei wouldn't have presumed to ask her. But as she was before any set, Usa was feeling the surge of nervous energy and was trying to calm herself by reviewing lyrics in her head.

"There you are!" Rei exclaimed. Usa looked up and found her favorite aunt standing by the dressing room. "Why are you being nervous?"

By now used to her Aunt Rei being able to read her moods - - and other things - - Usa didn't react with surprise.

"Just the adrenaline pumping, I guess," Usa shrugged. "I want to do well, you know?"

"You will, Muffin," Rei said, cupping the girl's chin in her hands lovingly. Then the priest grew a playfully wicked expression. "Or else!"

"Got it, Aunt Rei," chuckled the princess. "I won't let you down."

The girl freed herself from Rei's grip and scampered over to a dressing table where a plastic storage box sat. She pulled out a beige sequined mini-dress made of an extremely sheer material. The dress had white cuffs on long sleeves and a white swan with wings spread and placed strategically across the bodice.

"What do you think of my outfit?" Usa prodded as Diana's eyes popped.

"It's," Rei began diplomatically, "more Minako's style than mine. But I think you'd have a better chance of pulling it off than an old granny like her." The pair shared a giggle. "Just remember, if you hear a shriek of horror during your set, that'll probably be your mom."

"Oh, if she does that, I will so die!" huffed the teen dramatically.

"Hi, Usa!" Hotaru said, popping her head in the door. The Asteroids were behind her and the five girls eagerly crowded in. Rei decided it might be a good time to check on other areas of the festival and withdrew quietly. "We wanted to stop by and wish you luck."

"Thanks, Hotaru, guys," Usa smiled. "That really means a lot to me. Hey, Jun, what's with the biker outfit?" she asked as she took her costume and slipped behind a changing screen.

"It's because I bought a hover bike," Jun-Jun answered.

"YOU BOUGHT A HOVER BIKE!" Usa gasped.

"Yes, she's suddenly determined to kill herself," muttered Cere-Cere.

"I'd love to get a hover bike," Usa said. "But of course Mom would have a stroke and Pop would come up with fifteen thousand reasons why it's not safe."

"I still can't understand why you'd want to risk yourself on one of those nasty things," Cere-Cere persisted.

"Maybe she's going to be a professional stunt rider for Miss Mizuno-ma'am's Career Day," suggested Palla-Palla innocently.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Cere-Cere roared.

"I forgot that assignment was coming due!" Jun-Jun gasped. "I'm going to have to think of something."

"You girls have an assignment?" Diana inquired. She glanced at Usa. "Odd that I heard nothing about it."

"Cool your retros, Diana," Usa said from behind the screen. "Ami-San just assigned an essay on what career we want to go into and why."

"Have you even started on it?"

"Well it's not like there's much to write! I'm Princess of Crystal Tokyo and Successor to the Throne. My career's already been picked out for me."

"Palla-Palla wants to be a princess, too!" Palla-Palla squealed. "Then she can wear pretty silk dresses and ride a pretty white horse and marry a handsome prince."

"Sorry, Stupid," chuckled Ves-Ves. "That one's been taken." Palla-Palla's lower lip protruded while Usa's hand appeared from behind the screen and made a rude gesture.

"I'm already done," Cere-Cere said. "I'd like to open a florist shop that sells flowers I raise myself. That is, if I can't be a vid-stream fashion model, of course." Everybody giggled except Palla-Palla, who as usual didn't get the joke. "So what about you, Tough Girl? Knowing your skill set, you're probably only suited to being a draft animal."

"Yeah, then I'll come in some morning and eat your stupid flowers for breakfast," sniffed Ves-Ves. Then she put her hands behind her head and sighed. "Why do I even have to do this stupid essay? I've already got a career! I'm a senshi!"

"Don't you want to be anything else?" Hotaru asked. "I realize we all have responsibilities, but that doesn't mean we have to limit our lives to that one thing. I'm a senshi, but I want to be a doctor, too."

"That's fine, for you. I don't want to do anything else. What's wrong with just being a senshi? You live in the palace, you get to train to fight every day, you defend the things and the people you love," then she quickly glanced at the changing screen, "um, as well as spoiled brat princesses."

Usa's hand shot up with another rude gesture.

"You can do worse with your life than that," Ves-Ves shrugged. "Believe me, I know. I remember what it was like in Sao Paulo."

"We all do," Jun-Jun added. "There's nothing wrong with that, Ves. And if you put what you just said down in an essay, I think Mizuno-Sensei would give you a passing grade on it."

"She's probably nail me on spelling," Ves-Ves said. "You know I'm no good at writing."

"So?" Usa said, jumping out from behind the screen and posing dramatically. "What do you think of my outfit for the show?"

Hotaru blushed immediately. The dress, even though it had a high neck and long sleeves, was tailored to hug her very well-proportioned body and the filmy material made it seem like she was naked without her being so. Couple that with a short hem, sheer sequined hose and glittered four inch pink heels and the newly-minted seventeen year old could easily be considered provocative.

"Oh, that's wild!" gasped Cere-Cere.

"OOH, your swan is so pretty!" cooed Palla-Palla.

"My Lady, MUST you insist on leaving so little to the imagination?" commented Diana.

"I gotta be me, Diana," the girl grinned. "What can I say?"

"Is Queen Serenity going to be in the audience?" Hotaru asked.

"Probably. She never misses one of my sets if she can. Why?" asked Usa.

"Well, I just want to be there," Hotaru replied, her eyes suddenly flashing with mischief, "so I can catch her when she faints."

Playfully Usa pulled down her eyelid.

* * *

The grounds of the palace teemed with excitement and fun. The crowd was capacity and all the booths were doing a brisk business. Decorative kimonos were everywhere. The people were enjoying this festival as if they hadn't had one in decades. Of course, they'd just finished the day long Serenity's Birthday Festival seven days prior. That was another philosophy that the people of Crystal Tokyo had copied from their monarch: You can't have too many festivals.

Working their way through the crowds as best they could were the Royal Couple and their guests Telmar and his aide. It was difficult enough, for everyone just had to crowd up to the Queen and touch her or say a few words of admiration. Naturally Serenity had to chat them up in return. The only thing that seemed to be able to pull her away from interacting with the people was Endymion's insistent hand on her elbow or the lure of another food booth.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Ambassador Telmar?" Endymion inquired.

"It's certainly like nothing I've ever experienced," Telmar replied with practiced graciousness. "Your subjects seem to be enjoying themselves - - though once again I can't decide whether to attribute that to the festivities or to the presence of your wife."

"I must confess that sometimes I can't decide that either," Endymion smiled.

"Yur supf flaggerers," Serenity said, her words slurred by the mouth full of pastry she was chewing. Taking a moment to swallow, she continued. "Oh, this Sata Andagi is just devine! You really should taste it!"

"I appreciate the offer, Queen Serenity," Telmar smiled patiently. "However, as I explained, I'm reluctant to try your cuisine until it's known what effect it might have on my physical state."

"Yes, dear, they are aliens and we don't know how they would react to eating our food," Endymion reiterated.

"Oh, poo," scowled Serenity. "What's the point of going to Festival if you can't eat anything?" Then her eyes lit up. "Oh, Endymion, get me a goldfish!"

"Aren't you a little old for that?" her husband asked.

"Age is a state of mind," Serenity pouted. "And Ami told me that, so I know it's intelligent."

Telmar covered his mouth to conceal his grin.

"What sort of festivals do you have on Zachar?" Endymion asked.

"Nothing close to this, Your Majesty," Telmar replied.. "Our biggest celebration is probably the Ochnar Procession of Might. It's quite the grand production." Telmar thought for a moment. "And while it isn't a yearly event, naturally, there is great celebration when the Crown Prince or Princess to the Throne is engaged to marry."

"Really?" Serenity said. "I imagine that's a very happy occasion. Is your Prince married?"

"Not yet. Prince Mehaat has not had the right woman chosen for him."

"You mean," Serenity looked at him aghast, "he doesn't get to choose his own bride?"

"Why no, Queen Serenity," Telmar told her with some surprise. "All royal marriages are arranged."

"But what about love?" Serenity persisted.

"Love?" Telmar repeated. "I apologize, Queen Serenity. My translator unit isn't familiar with that term." He pushed a few buttons on the unit after pulling it from his belt. "Is that a colloquialism for 'lust or sexual ardor'?"

"No!" Serenity fumed. "Love is a feeling of devotion, of caring for another person, of-of having someone that's important to you, that enriches your life spiritually."

"A comrade?"

"More than just a comrade," Serenity continued. "Someone who completes you. Someone who makes you more than what you are alone."

"Loyalty?"

"That's some of it," Serenity smiled. "But love is so much more than just simple loyalty to someone. Love is two people becoming one."

Telmar punched a few more studs on his translator. "A mate?"

"Well," Endymion interjected, "that may be as close as our two languages can come. It's not a synonym, but the concepts have similarities."

"Forgive me, Queen Serenity," Telmar nodded. "The barrier of language can often be the thickest barrier to understanding."

"I'm sure you have the concept in your language somewhere," Serenity told him sweetly. "I just can't conceive of a society that doesn't possess the capacity to love."

"Attention everyone!" Rei announced over the speakers from the entertainment stage, putting a stop to further discussion. "First of all, I want to thank you all for attending this year's Tanabata Festival. And I want to thank you for enjoying yourselves so heartily. Your enjoyment is our number one objective and you have my personal gratitude for allowing us to please you."

Applause and shouts of encouragement came from the audience.

"I'm here now to kick off today's list of entertainment," Rei continued. "If anyone has seen the list of performers ahead of time, you know you're all in for a treat. We all know our first performer and we all know how good she is. So let's all welcome the Princess Usagi, known to all who love her as 'Simply Usa'!"

The audience burst into applause. Rei retreated from the stage. As she disappeared behind the curtain, Usa bounded out. She wore a microphone choker, a device the size of a penny that strapped across the throat, picked up the vocal cord vibrations and broadcast them to a computer enhancement program. They were converted to sound impulses and broadcast to the crowd through the speakers. The teen posed dramatically in her filmy short dress, her twin tails of pink hair dancing behind her, then launched into her first number.

"There she is!" Serenity squealed to Telmar. "That's my - - OH MY, WHAT IS SHE WEARING!"

"You allow a princess of the royal court to dress and cavort in this manner?" Telmar asked. He was clearly confused.

"As if she does ANYTHING I say," Serenity replied through clenched teeth. This served to confuse Telmar even more. Seeing Serenity was oblivious to everything except her daughter's very womanly body in a dress that left as little as possible to the imagination, he turned to Endymion for assistance.

"The price of a free society," Endymion sighed with flagging charity, "is tolerance of that which we ourselves might consider - - bad taste - - so long as the general welfare is not harmed."

"You are far more tolerant than our sovereign," Telmar confessed. Unseen, he pressed his hand to his belt buckle.

In another part of the audience, Hotaru and the four asteroids were watching their friend on stage and rocking to the melodies she was providing. It was clear they were all enjoying themselves - - even Hotaru managed a smile. She, Cere-Cere and Palla-Palla were dressed in decorative kimonos, while Jun-Jun remained in her biker suit and Ves-Ves stayed true to form in maroon pilot pants, black boots and a white muscle shirt.

"The Princess sings so pretty!" squealed Palla-Palla, her smile ear to ear.

"She sure is something to see," agreed Cere-Cere. She glanced at Hotaru and saw how happy she was for her best friend. "So why aren't you up there playing piano for her?"

"I'm not good enough to play in front of people," Hotaru shrank, grimacing shyly.

"You just need to practice more."

"I'm studying to be a doctor! Who has time?"

Unnoticed at first, Palla-Palla stopped bouncing to the beat and just stared ahead at nothing. Her features clouded over. Then she turned and headed into the crowd.

"Palla-Palla?" Ves-Ves inquired after her. She didn't answer. "Hey, Stupid, what's up?"

When she still didn't answer, Ves-Ves tugged on Jun-Jun's sleeve. A few head motions brought her sister up to speed. By then, the movement had alerted Cere-Cere and Hotaru. The four followed Palla-Palla into the crowd.

"Oh, isn't she wonderful!" cooed Queen Serenity, her pique over her daughter's attire momentarily smothered by parental pride.

"She has quite the alluring voice, Queen Serenity," Telmar said, turning his back to the stage and toward Endymion and Serenity.

"Is something wrong?" Endymion asked.

"Forgive me," Telmar apologized as he leaned into the royal couple. "The density of the audience seems to be growing."

"I," Endymion began, then received a signal on a portable communicator. "Endymion here. Yes, Neptune, he's right here. Really? You're certain it's one of his aides?"

"What is it, Endymion?" Serenity inquired.

"Ambassador Telmar," Endymion began, his eyes locked on the Zacharian, "could you explain what your aide was doing just now?"

An emotion passed through Telmar's eyes like a ghost. It seemed to Endymion like a moment's flash of fear. Then he bit down hard.

"LOOK OUT!" they heard Palla-Palla scream from somewhere in the audience. The warning bells were ringing loudly in Endymion's head. He pulled his cloak up to shield Serenity as Ambassador Telmar exploded in the midst of the crowd watching Usa sing.

It was a small explosion, just enough to consume Telmar and leave a burned and shattered corpse. The five people nearest him were on the ground shaken and suffering minor burns as well as the horror of being bathed in the blood and gore of someone else. Serenity was safe, protected by Endymion's cloak. As he lowered it, her eyes grew wide with shock and horror at what was happening.

Lost amid this chaos, Telmar's other aide sprouted a miniature rocket pack from beneath his uniform tunic. It ignited, thrusting spectators away as he jet into the air. The Asteroids and Hotaru were in a perfect position to see him rocket off. Jun-Jun could see that the rocket pack was small, with nothing more than a thirty second maximum burn. It was the type that a pilot might use to jettison away from a low altitude ship in lieu of an old-fashioned parachute. But why was he jetting away from the crowd?

"He's headed for The Princess!" Ves-Ves barked. "Vesta Star Power Make Up!"

In the moment it took for Ves-Ves to transform, the aide was on top of the stunned Usa. He grabbed her around the waist, throwing her over his shoulder as she was wrenched away from the stage. The pair's course then altered straight up.

"He's abducting her!" cried Cere-Cere. Immediately her henshin stick was out.

"What's he doing?" Sailor Juno pondered as the pair streaked up into the sky. "That pack will give out before he can reach any ship!"

"Fauna Assimilation! Eagle!" Vesta roared. Transforming into a giant eagle, the senshi pushed off and took to the heavens in pursuit.

Suddenly the air was cut by the crackle of expended energy. The already stunned and panicked crowd looked up into the sky. A ball of energy was sizzling in the sky, with Usa and the Zacharian rocketing straight for it. But unexpectedly the ball began to widen until a warp in space opened in the sky. It was about two meters in diameter.

"Moon Crystal Power," they all heard Usa say, even as she fought to get free of her abductor.

The pair rocketed into the warp and disappeared. Quickly the warp collapsed into itself.

"ENDYMION!" Queen Serenity shrieked. "SHE'S GONE!

Continued in Chapter 3


	3. The Betrothal

THE HOSTAGE BRIDE

Chapter 3: "The Betrothal"

By Bill K.

The wind tore at Usa's face as she twisted in the grasp of the alien rocketing into the sky with her. The thought that he was the only thing keeping her aloft at the moment hadn't yet occurred to the young teen. Her only thought was to escape the grasp of this man, for she sensed he meant her no good. Spitting pink hair from one of her tails out of her mouth, Usa pulled the broach from her dress, the broach she wore everywhere.

"Moon Crystal Power," she shouted.

And suddenly her environment changed. No longer were they rocketing through the air above the palace of Crystal Tokyo. They were now inside an enclosed metallic room filled with sophisticated machinery and computer control stations. The crackle of energy beneath them extinguished. Her abductor cut his rocket engine and the pair landed on a pad designed for such landings. The Zacharian slid Usa from his shoulder and onto her feet.

"Make Up!" she finished. The transformation to Sailor Moon took only a moment. It took only a moment more for Sailor Moon to viciously plant her knee in the sternum of the aide, knocking him to the ground. Crouching in a defensive posture, the senshi looked around, surveying her situation. "Everybody else STAY BACK if you don't want more of the same!" she warned.

There were six Zacharians in the room, in addition to the one writhing in pain on the floor. Two moved to protective stances in front of a third, while the other three surrounded Sailor Moon - - at a distance. Each one wore a sidearm sword and sheath. When the hilt was extracted, the blade was revealed to be a silvery metal surrounded by a glowing red energy field. The three surrounding Sailor Moon crouched to defensive postures as well, but they seemed more intent on containing the senshi rather than attacking her.

"Where is this place?" demanded Sailor Moon. "Why did you bring me here?"

Stepping forward from protection, a Zacharian entered the circle. His weapon was sheathed and his demeanor was confident. He stood six feet four, easily superceding Sailor Moon's stature, and was clearly solidly built beneath the traditional Zacharian military uniform. Sailor Moon studied his face. He had thick deep blue hair combed back from his forehead, and deep inquisitive eyes. His nose was proud and prominent, slightly hawkish, but successful in giving his face a regal stature. His jaw was firm and solid, his mouth pulled into a slightly confident smirk.

"So, this planet does possess warriors," the Zacharian said with some amusement. "I was beginning to wonder."

"ANSWER ME!" Sailor Moon fumed.

"I am ever obedient in the face of royalty," he nodded with some mocking quality. "This is the long range cruiser Vindicator, my personal ship. I am Mehaat Kahrsamn, Prince of the Realm and first in line to the throne of the Zacharian Alliance."

"Why am I here?" Sailor Moon spat.

"You are to be my wife."

"Like Hell!"

Pivoting on one foot, Sailor Moon sped for the farthest door away from Mehaat. Immediately two soldiers moved to cut her off. Springing in mid stride, Sailor Moon drove her foot into the chest of one of the soldiers. The other caught one of her tails and jerked. Sailor Moon spun around and delivered a roundhouse kick to the soldier, breaking his grip and staggering him.

Unfortunately for her, the other three soldiers on the deck had moved in. She delivered a sharp palm thrust to one while ducking or blocking advances from the other two. But this left her vulnerable to the first one she'd struck. He caught her around the waist and lifted the senshi off her feet into the air. Both her ankles were caught and held at bay, while the one holding her waist shrugged off several elbow blows from Sailor Moon trying to get him to let her go. The others moved in.

"Hold!" Mehaat chuckled. "Am I such a weakling that I can't keep my betrothed in line?"

"But Majesty!" one of the soldiers protested.

"Release her. No one fights Prince Kahrsamn's battles for him."

Reluctantly the soldiers complied. Once on her feet again, Sailor Moon eyed Mehaat warily.

"You can't win," he told her as he walked confidently toward her. "You've a great deal of spitfire and some actual skill to back your defiance up. I must admit that the thought at first of marriage to some pampered, mewling princess who sleepwalked her way through life left me with some distaste. But taming you could actually be fun."

Sailor Moon replied with a sudden kick to Mehaat's head. To her surprise, he easily evaded it and kept coming. Backing up a pace, she kept her eye warily on him.

"Look, it isn't too late," she told him. "Obviously our cultures are different. There's been a misunderstanding."

"There has," Mehaat replied. "And you've made it."

"Just let me go and we'll forget this ever happened!"

"Silly Earth woman. What would that accomplish?"

Sailor Moon struck suddenly, launching several blows at Mehaat. He caught or parried them all. Just as she realized that close quarters combat wasn't the way to go against him, he struck. Seizing her wrist with the speed of a cobra, Mehaat spun her around. Sailor Moon found herself held against him, her back to his front with her right arm bent up between her shoulders. His left hand cupped under her chin, forcing her head up awkwardly and further reducing her leverage. She strained against him, but found he was quite powerfully built and physically stronger than she was.

"Your attractiveness grows by the moment, Princess," he whispered in her ear, caressing along her throat. "In time I should even grow accustom to the pink skin and hair. You will bear me strong sons and raise them to be fierce warriors."

"I," strained Sailor Moon, "I'm already in love with someone else!"

"Forget him," was Mehaat's reply.

Sailor Moon's was to lash out with her right heel into Mehaat's right knee. The knee buckled, allowing the senshi to spin away. She could see Mehaat recovered quickly, though. He nodded in admiration to her, then started forward.

"Moon Tiara Action!" she bellowed, ripping the tiara from her head and flinging it at him. The energy disk shot across the room with tremendous speed, but was deflected at the last moment. It clattered onto the far part of the deck. Nearby was Mehaat's energy sword. Sailor Moon glanced back anxiously at Mehaat.

"Well played," he nodded.

Her hand went up into the air, summoning the Moon Scepter.

"Moon Princess Halation!" Sailor Moon called out. Instantly the room was filled with swirling pink energy. The soldiers grew weak and dizzy as Sailor Moon's soft, healing energy stilled their aggression and muted their will. Pink tendrils shot out at Mehaat. He evaded all but one. That one wrapped around his arm. He strained to pull free of it, but the tendril held and began to leech his aggression out of him. Eager to finish this situation and escape, Sailor Moon poured on the energy through the Moon Scepter.

The Prince's free hand went to his belt, then threw something with lightning speed. Sailor Moon suddenly felt the Moon Scepter whipped out of her hand. It clattered onto the deck, a bolo-like weapon wrapped around it. Sailor Moon burst for it. However, her path was quickly cut off by Mehaat. He seized her by the arms and wrestled the senshi to her knees. Sailor Moon fought to escape, but his superior strength pinned her arms behind her despite her best efforts.

"Magnetic shackles!" he demanded.

As he held her arms behind her, a soldier ran up with two metal shackles. They were affixed around Sailor Moon's wrists. Once locked into place, a powerful magnetic attraction pulled the shackles together behind her back. Sailor Moon strained, but couldn't pull them apart. Mehaat stood up, towering over her.

"Enough sparring for today, My Betrothed," Mehaat said. "Unfortunately I have duties of state to attend to."

"I'll never be your wife!" Sailor Moon fumed back at him.

"My mother said the same thing to my father when he took her," Mehaat replied. Turning to the soldiers, he said, "Prepare to take the ship out of orbit. Set course for Zachar. And establish contact with King Endymion and Queen Serenity. I must deliver terms. Take the Princess to a holding cell. Make sure she doesn't escape, but treat her with the respect due her station. And the man who touches her improperly dies in agony."

Instantly the soldiers moved to obey. Sailor Moon was hauled to her feet by two guards and escorted out fighting all the way.

* * *

While the Festival descended into a scene of general panic and chaos, Endymion brought out a communicator.

"Endymion! She's gone!" shrieked Serenity. "They've taken her!"

"Central Defense and Protection Command! This is Endymion with a priority communication!" he barked into the communicator. "I want the spacecraft in orbit targeted. Scramble all CDP Interstellar Craft! Intercept and detain that ship!"

"Understood, Your Majesty!" came the reply.

"Your Majesty, this is Chief Nakamura!" a voice cut in. "What's the situation? Is it related to that energy spike near the palace?"

"Yes, Chief," Endymion told him. "Our visitors from space have abducted Princess Usagi."

"Endymion?" Serenity gasped, clutching her husband's arm. Already tears were welling in her eyes. Endymion looked at her, unwilling to confess his helplessness at the moment, but unable to lie to those eyes.

"Transform!" Sailor Juno ordered the senshi who hadn't yet followed her and Vesta's example.

"What are we going to do?" Vesta demanded. "If they're up in space. . .?"

"We go after them," Sailor Saturn said with deadly resolution. By now Ceres and Pallas had fully transformed. Meanwhile, on stage, Minako ran up to Rei from behind the curtain.

"What the Hell just happened?" Minako asked. "Somebody back stage just said somebody snatched Usa?"

Rei turned to her longtime friend and Minako didn't have to possess "the sight" to read the terror in the priest's eyes.

"We'll use Sailor Teleport," Juno told Saturn and the other Asteroids. She glanced at Saturn. "I think we'll be able to make the jump."

Without question, the five senshi joined hands in a circle. They then went inside themselves, summoning their centers of power. The jewels on their tiaras flared with light.

As wind began to whip around the circle, the panicked crowd fell back. The wind blew harder, whipping hair and skirts up in the air as it reached cyclone power. Dust and debris were blown away from them until the cyclone reached its apex. A bubble of energy formed around the senshi. A brilliant light flared from the bubble, enveloping the five senshi.

"SAILOR TELEPORT!" they shouted in unison.

The winds died. The senshi were gone.

"Go get 'em, girls," Minako thought, observing the event from the stage. "We'll be right behind you."

To the surprise of all, particularly Rei and Minako, a form materialized on stage near the two. The pair reacted defensively. When they saw it was a Zacharian, it put them both even more on edge.

"I am Prince Mehaat Kahrsamn of the Zacharian Galactic Alliance," the virile alien announced proudly.

"You've got some nerve coming back here!" snarled Minako. She moved forward, but was restrained by Rei.

"It's just a projection," Rei told her. Minako looked at her questioningly. "There's no aura. He's not really here."

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY DAUGHTER?" Serenity wailed. She rushed the stage and clutched it, gazing up at the unseeing hologram.

"We desire to add Earth to our alliance," Mehaat announced. "To ensure your planet's fidelity to our alliance, your Princess Usagi has been taken onto our ship. There she will be married to me," Mehaat conveyed without emotion, either triumph or malice, "to cement the bond of unity between our two peoples."

Serenity's fists went to her mouth. Endymion tensed to the breaking point.

"Any attempt to interfere in this will have severe repercussions for any force opposing us," Mehaat continued, "as well as for the people of your planet - - and for the bride-to-be. You are part of the Alliance now. Accept it."

The projection faded from view. Serenity turned to her husband, wide-eyed and disbelieving. She saw Endymion's image shift from that of grey tuxedoed monarch to armored defender. She moved to him, but Endymion drew his cloak around himself, shifted into an energy state, then rocketed into the heavens. Everyone quickly lost sight of him. Despondent, Serenity turned away.

Of course, Rei was there.

"Oh, Rei!" Serenity cried. Then she collapsed against her friend, crying bitterly against the priest's shoulders. Robbed of words by her own tears, Rei could only clutch the Queen tightly as Minako looked on. Minako brought her communicator to her mouth and pressed the call stud.

"Makoto? Ami?" Minako said, barely waiting for acknowledgment. "Get down here. We've got a situation."

Clearing Earth's atmosphere, the teleportation bubble containing Sailor Moon's guardian senshi entered airless space. The bubble kept them alive and moving forward through the combined energy of the five senshi - - although Sailor Saturn was contributing roughly fifty percent of the energy, a fact obvious to everyone except her.

"Fine bunch of guardians we are," muttered Sailor Vesta.

"They caught everybody off guard," Sailor Juno told her. "Nobody was expecting this."

"Well," Sailor Pallas squeaked.

"Pallas?" Juno gaped. "You had some warning that this was going to happen?"

"Not that they were going to take The Princess, no," Pallas shook her head. "But Pallas did have a picture in her head. It was that blue man with the King and Queen. Pallas saw him blow himself up. She went to warn them - - but it was too late."

"Hey, nobody's blaming you, Stupid," Vesta offered encouragingly. A smile swelled on the blue-haired senshi's face.

"But why would they take Usa?" Sailor Ceres pondered. "What do they want?"

"Who knows," Juno scowled.

"Let's just get her back and THEN worry about the whys," Vesta suggested. "Hey, Stupid, can you try to lock in on Usa's thoughts?"

"Pallas can try," Pallas said, then scrunched up her face in concentration. Meanwhile Ceres glanced at Sailor Saturn.

"You OK?" Ceres asked. "Don't try to do too much, huh?"

"I'm fine," Saturn replied, still grim and determined - - and, to Ceres, just a little intimidating.

"Pallas can hear her!" Pallas exclaimed. "Pallas can hear The Princess!"

"Where is she?" Juno asked.

"Coordinates 165 by 22 by 118," Pallas rattled off, doing the calculations in her head.

"Huh?" Ceres asked. The words were gibberish to her, as they were to Vesta and Saturn.

"I got it," Juno replied. "Bank the bubble left and up." The senshi complied.

"Yeah, there it is!" Vesta called out. "It looks like it's moving away from the planet! I think they're trying to get away!"

"Oh no they're . . ." Saturn began, her shoulder length black hair fanning out from her and her violet eyes beginning to glow with energy.

But before she could finish, the space warp thrusters of the ship engaged. Photon particle energy flared out from the thrusters and shot the ship forward at a tremendous speed. It was far more speed than the five senshi could ever hope to generate. The ship disappeared between the pinprick lights of two distant stars.

"Usa!" Saturn wailed. She stared at where the ship had been, while the heads of the others bowed with their failure. "No," Saturn sobbed. "Bring her back. . ."

Continued in Chapter 4


	4. The Race To Zachar

THE HOSTAGE BRIDE

Chapter 4: "The Race To Zachar"

By Bill K.

Rei and Minako escorted Queen Serenity into the palace and up to a conference room. There they were met by Luna, Ami and Makoto. Ami immediately moved in and administered a mild sedative to the distraught queen. While she and Rei hovered, Minako went over to Makoto and Luna.

"I can't believe it," Makoto shook her head. "They just snatched Usa right out in public and took off with her?"

"Number brazenness among their characteristics," grumbled Luna, "as well as duplicity."

"Yeah, they had us all fooled," Minako nodded. "Well, except for Haruka and Michiru."

"I just thought they were being their usual suspicious, paranoid selves," Makoto admitted. "So how do we get her back?"

"Well, Endymion and the Asteroids went after the ship. Cross your fingers they catch them before they can get away. If not," and Minako shrugged, "road trip."

"Artemis is working on pinpointing this Zacharian home world," Luna informed them, "assuming the Princess is taken there. Did they make any sort of demands or give any hint as to a motive?"

"They want Earth to join their little space club," Minako said thinly. "They took Usa to make sure we play along."

"A hostage?" Makoto asked.

"Worse. They're going to force her to marry one of their Princes to seal the deal."

"Unbelievable!" Luna gasped. "I thought that sort of thinking went out with the dark ages!"

"Just because it's noon here doesn't mean it's noon everywhere," Minako muttered, her malapropism actually making some sense.

"Perhaps it would be prudent to begin planning our next course of action," Ami proposed delicately, "in case Endymion and the others don't succeed."

"No," murmured Queen Serenity, shaking her head. Everyone turned to her. "No, you can't go after her."

"What?" gasped Rei.

"Hon'!" Makoto added.

"They said they'd kill her," Serenity said, her emotions welling up again despite the sedative. "And they said they'd kill anyone who came after them. You can't."

"But Hon'," Makoto tried to argue.

"No, you can't! I won't allow it! I won't risk her! I won't risk her life and I won't risk yours!"

"So you're just going to let them have her?" Rei demanded, her fury rising.

"I-I'll go to them," Serenity mumbled, desperation in her eyes, "work something out."

"Serenity," Ami said, leaning in to the sitting monarch, "they have what they want. They have no logical reason to negotiate."

"It's too dangerous, Ami!" wailed Serenity. "I'll talk to them - - make them see! Make them see how wrong this is!"

"Fine, you do that," snapped Rei, "AFTER we get Usa back!"

"Rei, no! I forbid it!"

Rei clamped her hands down on the armrests of Serenity's chair.

"So you're just going to fold again, are you?" the priest roared at her best friend. "Someone threatens someone you love and you just collapse into a quivering mass, just like always! And we're just supposed to do the same? WELL NOT THIS TIME!"

"Rei . . .!" sobbed Serenity.

"This is Usa we're talking about! That girl is just as important to me as she is to you! She's . . ." and Rei paused, her chest heaving so hard that she couldn't form words. Tears streamed down the priest's face. "She's the daughter I never had! And I am going to GET HER BACK! WITH YOU OR WITHOUT YOU! EVEN IF IT MEANS MY LIFE!"

"Rei, don't," Serenity cried.

And Rei slapped her, viciously across the mouth. Serenity spun down to one of the armrests, then leaned against it and began crying again. Makoto grabbed Rei by the arm and pulled her away.

"Rei, get hold of yourself!" Makoto hissed.

Instead Rei jerked out of Makoto's grasp and stalked out of the room

"REI!" Serenity shrieked. Then Ami pressed a metal cylinder to Serenity's arm. The queen lost consciousness and slumped back in her chair.

"Things might be a lot less complicated if you'd done that sooner," Minako said.

"She was becoming hysterical," Ami said shortly, her mouth thin with concealed anger. "She was practically hyperventilating. I did it for her health. Any other reason would be unethical."

"OK," Minako replied, surprised by Ami's vehemence. "It just so happens that this works to our advantage. Now we can get a rescue mission together."

"I'm not going," Ami stated flatly.

"What? Ames?" Makoto gaped.

"She forbid us to go," Ami said, looking Makoto and Minako right in the eye. "I may not always agree with Serenity's decisions, but I vowed to follow her and obey her. I take things like that seriously."

"Well so do I," Makoto replied stiffly. "But sometimes you have to do what's best for everyone in spite of the vows you've taken. If I'm married and my husband turns out to be a serial killer, I'm going to turn him in. Same thing here. Serenity's way isn't going to work. We're going to have to go and take Usa back. You know that as well as I do."

The two stood silently staring at each other.

"I won't hold it against you if you go," Ami said finally, looking down. "But I won't." She activated a communication panel on the desk. "Infirmary, send a medical team to conference room three. The Queen needs to be hospitalized." She cut the channel, then looked up. "I'm going to work with Artemis to establish a communication channel with the Zacharians. Maybe Serenity's way can work. It is Serenity, after all."

"Good luck," Makoto said timidly. Ami nodded, then exited. Luna bounded out after her. Makoto turned to Minako. "So now what, Blondie?"

"Well, we're going to need a way to Zachar," Minako stated, "and more than just you and me. I'm thinking we look up Haruka and Michiru. Maybe Rei's already done it."

"And if she hasn't?"

"Then she's clearly not as sneaky as I thought she was," the blonde quipped as she headed for the exit.

* * *

Tears began streaming down Sailor Saturn's face as she watched the Zacharian ship disappear into the black of space. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out, for anguish had robbed her of her ability to speak. 

"Poor Princess," Pallas murmured, her own eyes watering. "She's so scared."

"Are you still in contact with her, Pallas?" Juno asked.

"No. Juno, isn't the Princess ever coming back?"

"We'll find a way, Pallas," Juno said. "That's why we're here."

"Look!" Ceres exclaimed, nodding toward planet-side.

Rocketing up from the planet was a comet of golden energy. It came up fast on the floating force bubble containing Saturn and the Asteroid Senshi, then eased to a stop near the bubble. Inside the brilliant golden glow, the five senshi could just make out the outline of a man.

"It's the King," Vesta said, awestruck by the utter power he demonstrated.

"Did you see where the ship went?" Endymion said and, through the force of his will and the magic of his crystal, the senshi heard in their transport bubble.

"That way," Juno nodded in the direction the ship disappeared. She and the others kept holding hands because to break contact would destroy the bubble and expose them all to airless space.

Endymion nodded and started in pursuit.

"YOUR MAJESTY!" Saturn exclaimed. He stopped and turned to her. "Take us with you! We want to help! We want to get Usa back, too!"

"Not this time," Endymion replied gently.

"PLEASE!" begged Saturn.

"I'm sorry," he said, trying to be as kind as possible. "But you'd only slow me down."

Saturn started to plead again, but Endymion cut her off. A wave of his hand sent a gentle force pushing against the senshi transport bubble, easing it back to Earth. Endymion turned and, still in his energy form, shot out into space in pursuit of his daughter. As the transport bubble descended toward the palace, Saturn's eyes squeezed shut, trying to contain the renewed flow of tears. Her friends and fighting comrades looked on with sympathy.

* * *

Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune ran through the palace grounds toward the palace. The grounds were littered with the broken and abandoned trappings of the festival, silent testament to the tragedy that had destroyed the city's fun and celebration. As they approached the palace, they found Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus waiting for them. 

"What happened?" Neptune inquired sharply. "I heard snatches about Princess Usagi being abducted?"

"Yeah," Venus nodded. "One of the Zacharians distracted Endymion and Serenity, and the other grabbed Usa right off stage. Flew her into some warp field and onto their ship."

"So THAT'S what the one we were following was doing!" Neptune exclaimed.

"They figured out we were suspicious of them," Uranus completed the thought, "so they lured us away with a feint so we wouldn't be here to stop them. Pretty smart."

"Has anyone gone after them?" Neptune asked.

"Saturn and the Asteroids took off right after they got Usa," Jupiter told them. "Endymion was right behind them."

Suddenly Venus nudged Jupiter. She pointed up into the sky and the others looked. They saw Saturn and the Asteroid Senshi gliding back to the palace in their transport bubble. When they landed, the elders ran up to them.

"What happened? Are you five all right?" Jupiter asked.

"The King sent us back," Vesta scowled bitterly, her arms folded over her chest. "He said we'd 'slow him down'."

"Well, his energy form really isn't designed to haul passengers," Venus admitted. Suddenly Saturn pushed through and grabbed the arms of Uranus and Neptune.

"Mama, Papa, we have to go after her! Please!" Saturn pleaded.

"Exactly what we were thinking," Uranus smiled, gently patting Saturn's cheek. "Besides, I never could say 'no' to my little firefly." She glanced at Venus and Jupiter as Saturn's eyes twinkled with hope. "Let's go get a spaceship."

"Uh, problem," Venus told them. "Serenity forbid us from going after them." The Asteroids all gasped.

"Yeah?" Uranus replied blandly. "So what's the problem?"

A cynical smirk grew on Venus.

"Uh, I guess finding a ship that matches my outfit," Venus said. "Because, you know, I'd really hate to clash."

Uranus nodded while Neptune concealed a smile. "Come on, let's get an air car out to the launch center."

The four elders took off running. Saturn moved to join them. Vesta and Pallas moved to follow. Vesta turned back to Ceres and Juno.

"Come on!" she demanded.

"But Vesta, the Queen said," Juno began. Vesta gave her an impatient look.

"Oh, stop lecturing us and come on!" Ceres huffed, taking off to join her sisters.

"Sure," Juno sighed, scowling. "What right do I have to disagree, after all?"

The air car shot out into city traffic with Uranus behind the controls. As she accelerated into the air lanes, the senshi pressed the special beacon that palace air cars had. That way, CDP patrols would know not to stop them and civilian navigation controllers would automatically lay in flight plans to avoid their path. While Uranus flew the ship, Venus filled Neptune and the others in on everything that had happened. Jupiter, meanwhile, was on the senshi communicator to Sailor Mars, informing her of their plans.

* * *

Before she met up with Artemis and Luna in the palace communications center, Ami stopped by the infirmary to check on Serenity. A nurse was attending to the Queen as she lay on a bio-scan table. Ami glanced at the readings of her patient's vital signs. Everything was steady, due mostly to the sedative she administered. 

Then, to her surprise, Serenity began to stir. Her pulse and blood pressure began to increase, a sign of the duress she was experiencing. Ami was surprised the Queen had roused this early. The sedative should have lasted longer than this.

But then it was Serenity.

"Usa?" Serenity mumbled. "Bring her back. Please bring her back."

"Serenity?" Ami said softly, touching the Queen's upper arm. The Queen opened her eyes and took a moment to focus.

"Ami," she said, recognizing her longtime friend. "Where are we?"

"The palace infirmary."

"Usa!" the Queen gasped suddenly. She tried to rise. "I've got to talk to them! I've got to convince them to . . .!"

"You have to lay back and rest," Ami advised her. Her hands went to Serenity's shoulders and forced her back down onto the bio-scan table. "You're anxiety has sent your vital signs to a dangerous level. You have to calm down. You can't help Usa by becoming irrational."

"Yes, Ami," Serenity replied quietly. Ami looked down into the forlorn blue eyes of her Queen and felt her heart break. "Is - - is Rei around?"

"No," Ami admitted reluctantly. Serenity took the disappointment quietly.

"The others?"

"Serenity," Ami began cautiously, "the others went on a rescue mission."

"I see," Serenity responded softly.

A pregnant pause hung over the cubicle.

"Ami," Serenity began. Ami noticed that the Queen avoided her gaze. "Was I wrong?

Ami took in a deep breath of air.

"It's," she began, "really too soon to tell. I admit I don't agree with your decision - - but I can't honestly say that it had no chance of success. Artemis and I intend to try to set up a channel of communications with the Zacharians. When you're rested and calm, you can - - try to reason with them. Who knows. Perhaps by the time the others get to Zachar, Usa will already be free."

Serenity reached out and grasped Ami's hand. Ami squeezed it reassuringly. However, it didn't seem to boost the Queen's spirits.

"I just don't want anybody to be hurt, Ami," Serenity mumbled as tears welled again. "Is it so wrong?"

"You've stumbled onto a quandary of human philosophy, Serenity," Ami said. "The tactics of peace don't always work with a belligerent opponent - - but to take on the tactics of the belligerent opponent calls into question one's dedication to the tactics of peace. I can't give you a definitive answer to that problem."

The Queen just sighed. Guilt weighed heavily on her brow.

"I know Haruka and Michiru were suspicious of them," Serenity admitted. "I guess I should have listened. It's just - - you can't have peace without trust. You can't grow friendship in the soil of suspicion and mistrust."

"Don't blame yourself for trusting them, Serenity," Ami said, patting her on the shoulder. "Blame them for abusing your trust"

* * *

Endymion continued to speed through space in pursuit of his daughter. Homing in on the special bond he had with Serenity and Usagi, the King pushed on. He refused to dwell on the nagging doubt in the back of his mind, the worry that he might be too late. 

"Endymion?" he felt Serenity's mind contact his.

"I'm here," he replied. "The Zacharians got away with Usa. I'm following them now."

There was silence.

"I'll bring her home safe," Endymion thought-cast back to Earth.

"Endymion," Serenity began again. "Please be careful."

"Of course," he told her.

"I'm," she began, "going to try to talk to them."

"Good luck," Endymion told her. "But I'm going to keep on from my end."

There was more silence.

"Please be careful," she reiterated. Endymion smiled, but it didn't last very long. The image of his daughter disappearing in the warp caused him to revert to the steely glare he had been wearing.

Continued in Chapter 5


	5. Resistance Is Futile

THE HOSTAGE BRIDE

Chapter 5: "Resistance Is Futile"

By Bill K.

Princess Usagi sat on the bunk of her holding cell, her back wedged into the corner. Her hands were still pinned behind her back with the metal magnetic shackles. She had reverted from her Sailor Moon identity because being Sailor Moon had been no more effective against her abductors than her identity of Princess Usagi.

The cell was a small cubicle, two meters by two, with one wall occupied by a two meter wide bunk running from corner to corner. The door to the cell was opposite the bunk and consisted of an energy field that repelled any force put against it. The accommodations were quite Spartan, but then she was a prisoner after all. As Usa leaned her head back into the corner, her chest shuddered. The mental connection with Sailor Pallas had been brief and abruptly severed. It was a symbol of nothing good.

"Don't cry," she told herself again. "You can't just dissolve into tears. You have to think of a way out of this. You're all alone right now and you can't count on anybody to help you." Usa blew out a breath. "What would Mom do in a situation like this?"

Suddenly the girl scowled.

"Dissolve into tears and wait for Pop to rescue her," Usa muttered. "OK, what would one of the Inners do?"

Slowly, cautiously, Usa uncurled from the bunk and gained her feet. Intently she looked over the technology that projected the energy field across the door. Trying to solve the problem before her helped keep her mind off the prospect of marrying Prince Mehaat, if nothing else.

"Boy, I bet Aunt Ami could figure this out," Usa mused. "It doesn't look like anything I've seen." A thought occurred to her and she glanced back at the bunk.

"Admiring the technology?" Mehaat asked. Usa jumped with surprise, stumbling backwards and toppling onto the bunk. She glared up at him. "Did I surprise you?"

"What do you think?" Usa replied, wary of him.

"I think," Mehaat began, his eyes tracing the curve of Usa's hip and leg, "that I like you better in this costume."

Suddenly Usa wished her skirt was longer and the material of her dress wasn't so sheer.

"Is this the only way you can get a date?" Usa snapped. "Kidnap one?"

"Our marriage is a political convenience first and foremost," Mehaat said, his hand resting reflexively on his weapons belt. "Your womanly charms are just an added benefit. I would still marry you if you were hideous, because that is what my father has demanded of me." He smiled at the next thought. "I would just command you to wear a bag over your head."

"What kind of stone age society are you from?" gasped Usa.

"A society that has conquered six worlds like yours," Mehaat bristled. "If we wanted to, we could have invaded your world and destroyed all resistance to us within days. But that wouldn't have benefitted anyone. Your world has many exploitable resources. They will be a fine addition to the Alliance."

"You could have tried peaceful negotiation," Usa countered. "Mom is very generous to her friends. You could have made a stronger alliance at the end of a bargaining table instead of at the end of a weapon or an extortion demand."

"The credo of the vanquished," sneered Mehaat. "We have no need to negotiate. Our ploy has succeeded without your 'negotiation'. We have everything we want."

"For how long?" Usa asked. Mehaat noted an intensity of conviction in the girl's red eyes. Usa, though, noted something unexpected in the eyes of Prince Mehaat.

Regret?

"It's not too late to stop this," Usa told him, pressing the opening she perceived. "Mom is very forgiving. We can just chalk this up as a misunderstanding between cultures and . . ."

"Bargain from a stronger position, my future wife," Mehaat cut her off. Some of the arrogance of superior position had returned to his demeanor. As he walked off, Usa wondered if she had really seen what she thought she'd seen in him. Had it just been wishful thinking on her part? Or was there more to Prince Mehaat than she first believed?

"What are you afraid of?" Usa persisted. "That I might be right?"

Mehaat kept his back to her. "It's not the first time I've heard such words." He turned to her, somber and slightly haunted. "My mother made similar predictions. She was a princess, like you. My father took her and forced her world to capitulate to all his demands. When her planet tried to rebel, my father exterminated them." Mehaat slowly walked up to the cell. "I was the gunnery officer on the lead ship in the armada. I exterminated a world of people I shared blood with and didn't give it a second thought."

Perhaps it was her hopes and not reality, but Usa wondered, based on his expression, if he was lying.

"She spoke to me," Mehaat continued, "of how societies built on death and oppression could not hope to survive, that they would end up consuming themselves and everything around them. Of course, she told me these things in secret. My father would have gutted her if he heard such words from her." He paused, and Usa detected swirling emotions in the Prince. Confusion mixed with a reverence peeked through the mask of the soldier. "When I was younger, I actually believed for a time. But her beliefs didn't save her. They didn't save her planet. My grandfather pleaded with the ship's commander to stop. But he died in a hail of nuclear fire. They didn't save him, either." He hardened. "And they won't save you. Reconcile yourself to your new life, Princess. You've no other choice."

And the Prince swept out of the room. Usa glared after him.

"We'll see about that," she murmured.

* * *

On the interstellar ship carrying the senshi, Venus looked over to her partner out of boredom. It was too bad Serenity wasn't along on this trip. Sailor Teleport was always faster than spacecraft, particularly with Serenity as powerful as she was now. And Venus so hated being bored. So she looked to Jupiter for some sort of conversation. But the look on Jupiter's face surprised her.

"What's eating you?" Venus asked. Jupiter pulled out of her deep thought a moment later, the question dragging her back to the real world.

"Oh," Jupiter mumbled. "I was just thinking - - about what Ami said."

"Gee, your first quarrel?"

"Do you know how much I hate it when you make fun of the relationship Ami and I have?" Jupiter asked thinly.

"Don't get your fuku bunched, I'm just riding you," Venus grinned. "You having second thoughts? Because it'll be pretty hard to stop this thing and let you off."

"Don't you wonder? Are we being disloyal? Serenity specifically told us not to mount a rescue mission. And here we are. Isn't that being disloyal to her?"

"No," Sailor Mars said firmly from the row behind them. Jupiter and Venus turned to her and Saturn and the Asteroids peered at them from the rows of seats behind her. "Our job is to protect her. That's our duty as senshi and as her friends. And I've said this before: Sometimes it means protecting her from herself."

"Yeah?" Venus commented dryly, turning back to the front viewport. "So which one of us is supposed to protect her from being slapped across the face?"

Mars glared.

"But who are we to make that call?" Jupiter countered, glossing over the dig from Venus. "What if she tries to settle this diplomatically and succeeds? You know how she is. She could charm the stripes off of a tiger if she got half a chance. What if she hammers out an agreement and gets Usa back - - and then we come riding in like a horde of rogue samurai and screw everything up?"

Mars didn't say anything because she didn't want to admit that Jupiter had a point.

"Now you know some of the angst we go through," Sailor Neptune said, turning her seat toward them. She was in the cockpit next to Uranus, navigating as her mate piloted. "It isn't always easy being the suspicious ones, the voices of dissent or of the question that nobody wants to pose. But we're necessary, because otherwise Serenity would be insulated by a single, consensus opinion. And that's dangerous, because no one is always right. Serenity might be right more often than a single human should logically be, but even she's not always right. And when that happens, we need to be there, to step in. That's what this mission has become - - an alternative in case she fails."

A thoughtful silence hung over the passengers.

"And I thought it was because you hate anyone else making the decisions," Uranus jabbed as she held the pilot's controls.

Several twitters of amusement rose up from the passengers as Neptune's mouth curled into a cynical smile despite her wishes. Uranus kept her eyes on space ahead. She knew that remark would be cataloged in her mate's brain and she might have to pay for it one day when she least expected it.

Ah, the thrill of living dangerously.

* * *

Serenity lay on the sensor bunk, staring up at the ceiling. She worried about Usa, about Endymion, about her friends and about this new threat to her world and her subjects. As she worried, she twisted her fingers nervously. Just outside the cubicle, a duty nurse monitored her vital signs and went about her duties. It was so lonely. And Serenity always hated being alone.

"How are you feeling?" Ami asked, popping her head in the door. Even though her visit was medically related, Serenity was grateful for it.

"I'm feeling fine," Serenity told her friend. "Can't I get up now?"

"Your readings are all normal," Ami commented. "I suppose so. Just - - wear this please?" Ami held out a small patch, a circle half the size of a hundred yen coin.

"What is it?"

"A portable sensor. It will track your vital signs and broadcast an alert to my medical PDF if you begin to hyperventilate or become too distraught."

"Is it the only way I can get out of here?" Serenity asked. Ami said nothing, but that look over her glasses at Serenity told the Queen everything. She took the patch and stuck it on her arm. Ami offered her hand and Serenity used it to slide off the bunk.

"Artemis has managed to set up a communications link with the Zacharian home world," Ami told Serenity as the pair walked out of the infirmary.

"He did?" Serenity gasped with wary elation. "Can I use it to talk to them?"

"That's why we did it. I assumed you'd want to talk to them and try to mediate this situation."

"Oh, Ami, you're the best! Take me to it!"

When Serenity rushed into the communications room, closely followed by Ami, she found Artemis and Luna working with several communications technicians. Nothing seemed different except for a grid of communications crystals set up on a panel and patched into the system. Everyone turned to the Queen when she entered.

"Your Majesty, are you certain that you're well?" Luna asked.

"I'm fine, Luna, stop worrying," Serenity replied. "How soon until I can talk to them? I have to convince them to let Usa go!"

"I'll put the call through now," Artemis told her. "But remember, this is a link to the home world, not a direct line to their ruler. It may be a few minutes before they put him through, assuming he decides to even talk to us. And this is going over billions of parsecs of space, so there's going to be a transmission lag of about fifteen seconds or so back and forth."

Serenity nodded impatiently and Artemis activated the process. Everyone waited with growing anxiety while the transmission tried to reach its destination. Finally an image appeared on the screen.

"This is Zacharian Alliance Central Control," a stern, militaristic Zacharian said. He seemed about middle aged, very rigid and uncompromising. "State your business."

"I'm calling on behalf of Queen Serenity of Earth," Artemis spoke into a microphone. "She wishes to speak to the Zacharian King."

"I will forward her message to His Highest Majesty," the Zacharian told him. "You have the option of waiting for a reply or providing communications coordinates."

"We'll wait," Artemis said.

"Artemis?" Serenity interjected. Everyone noticed that she was staring at a monitor that displayed what was being sent to Zachar. "That's your human form."

"Yeah," the white cat grinned. "I programmed a 3-D image of my human form into the database. Whenever I communicate with anyone over this set-up, the other party sees that image. For some reason, it gets more respect than my feline form."

"His Highest Majesty has consented to speak with Queen Serenity and ONLY Queen Serenity," the Zacharian said, his image returning to the screen. "Produce her immediately."

"It seems this entire culture is sorely lacking in manners," sniffed Luna.

"I'm here," Serenity announced. Artemis quickly switched from his animated image to her real one. "I'm Queen Serenity."

"Switching," the Zacharian announced.

The image changed to another Zacharian. He also wore the stiff collared military uniform that seemed regulation for this species. He also was middle-aged, with deepening lines around his red eyes, his stern mouth and his cheeks. But what struck Serenity and the others the most was the cold, merciless quality of his eyes. They were eyes that had seen millions of deaths. They were eyes calloused to compassion. They were eyes that looked down on everyone and everything.

"I am King Sallaar. You're the ruler of that new planet. What do you want? Be brief," King Sallaar gruffly said.

"King Sallaar, I don't understand," Serenity began. "We welcomed you in friendship. Yet you steal my daughter at the first opportunity. There is no need for this."

"Are you dense, woman?" Sallaar sneered. "Your daughter is insurance that you cooperate."

"This is not how friends act," Serenity countered.

"We have no need of your friendship!" barked Sallaar. "You are now part of the Alliance. As such, you will obey our wishes without question."

"Why would you do this? Aggression and violence gains you nothing but misery!"

"Resist us at your own peril. If you value your child so little that her life means nothing, we are prepared to use force to gain your cooperation."

"Please," Serenity said, her eyes beginning to water with tears, "for all our sakes, yours as well as mine, don't do this. Give my daughter back to me. We can coexist in peace. We can. All we have to do is reach an understanding of each other and our needs." A tear trickled down her cheek. "Please don't destroy everything with a fit of mindless violence."

"You mewl like an infant," Sallaar snorted. "As members of the Alliance, your planet will provide the Alliance with food, technology and material components. You will meet your quotas or face reprisals. In turn, your people will be provided with food, technology and material components as we see fit. You will also compile a list of males of fighting age and health for conscription into the Alliance Military. Failure to do so will also bring reprisals." He leaned into the communications screen. "Obedience is your only option, Queen Serenity. Any other action will result in reprisals against your world - - and torture for your daughter."

The screen went blank. Everyone looked at Serenity. They saw the Queen teetering on shock, her hand to her throat and a look of abject horror on her face.

"Well, Your Majesty," Luna began, "it appears the threat is to more than just the Princess now. The threat is to everyone. What do you intend to do?"

Her hand went up to massage her temple. Queen Serenity seemed lost for a few moments, unsure and unable to make a decision. Everybody waited, needing her to be strong for them. Finally she reached a decision.

"Try to re-establish contact," Serenity told Artemis. "Obviously I didn't get through to him."

"I doubt they'll listen," Ami surmised.

"I have to try," Serenity said.

"Are you going to comply with their demands?" Luna asked.

"Of course not," Serenity whispered. "I couldn't think of turning another person over to them against that person's wishes."

They were all silently glad to hear that. However, no one brought up what that meant for the captive Princess Usagi.

* * *

Under armed guard, Usa was escorted from her cell to the bridge of the Zacharian ship. During the entire trip, the girl's eyes were darting back and forth, observing everything, trying to memorize the passages of the ship and noting anything that might be helpful to her if she got the chance to escape. They were the lessons taught to her by her mentors, the four legendary senshi of her mother's court. Privately Usa wished she'd maintained her guise as Sailor Moon, but if fate presented her an opportunity to use the skills and wisdom imparted to her by her four "Aunts", she would use them gratefully.

The lift door opened and Usa was brought out onto the bridge. Prince Mehaat was standing forward beside a large monitor. On the monitor was an older Zacharian. He resembled Mehaat, but was less robust and vital - - and much more cold and arrogant. The guards led Usa up to the monitor.

"On your knees before His Highest Majesty!" commanded one of the guards. Hands gripped her shoulders and Usa was forced unwillingly to kneel before the screen.

"This is the female?" King Sallaar inquired, his lip curled slightly in a sneer. "She's got a little more fight than her mother has. Good. Maybe your children won't be weaklings."

"You spoke to Mom?" gasped Usa. "When? How? What did she say?" Usa fought to escape the hold of the guards on either side of her.

Instantly Mehaat stepped in. The back of his hand struck Usa viciously across the mouth. Her head wrenched with the impact.

"Speak only to my father when he has spoken to you," Mehaat advised her.

Usa glared up at him. The anger welled up in her, but then she remembered the advice of her mother, that hatred muted the power of her crystal. She had to control her emotions if she was going to be ready to take advantage of an opportunity to escape.

Because of this, she was able to see the expression on Mehaat's face, the one that was hidden from his father on the huge monitor looming behind Mehaat. It was one of distaste. Was it for what he'd done - - or for the image that loomed behind him?

"You've got your work cut out for you taming this one," chuckled Sallaar. "It's a good thing, son. Proves a man's worth. And when you do finally break them, the victory is all the more sweet."

"Yes, Your Highest Majesty," Mehaat said. His voice was neutral, but his hidden face was anything but.

"So, are you prepared to honor your obligation to me and to the Alliance which gave birth to you and raised you to be the warrior you are?" Sallaar asked. Mehaat inhaled.

"I am," he pronounced, turning and facing the monitor straight and proud. He was every inch the crisp military man.

"Good," Sallaar nodded with satisfaction. "As King of Zachar and Head of the Galactic Alliance, I give you this female. From this moment on, she is your wife." He glanced at Usa. "Bear him many strong sons."

"No!" roared Usa. "You can't just hand me over like I'm some party favor! It isn't right!" Instantly the guards brought her cuffed arms painfully up behind her back, cutting Usa's protests off.

"You were warned," hissed one of the guards.

"I am King," Sallaar said, eyes flaring. "Right is what I say it is. And lacking that, right is what your husband says it is. Remember that or you're going to have a short, painful life."

The screen went blank.

"Take her to my quarters," Mehaat instructed the guards. Obediently they hauled Usa to her feet and dragged her kicking and fighting off the bridge. "I'll join you shortly, Princess," Mehaat added. Usa turned and glared at him defiantly before she was forced into the lift and taken away.

Continued in Chapter 6


	6. The Honeymoon

THE HOSTAGE BRIDE

Chapter 6: "The Honeymoon"

By Bill K.

The door hissed shut behind Usa. The lights in the room were dim. As her eyes adjusted to the low light, she twisted her hands in the magnetic shackles once again. They still held.

Her gaze panned across the room. It was sparse. There was a bunk. There was a communications station. There was a closet for uniforms. Souvenir weapons decorated one wall. It was the quarters she would expect from the prince of a militaristic society.

"I have to get out of here," Usa murmured, wandering into the center of the room. "I have to find some way to get out of here."

Her first instinct was to transform to Sailor Moon. Her mother and father didn't need to transform anymore to work miracles, but she wasn't in their league yet - - and she feared she never would be. She needed the little extra advantage her senshi form gave her. Her fingers spread out from the shackles.

"Moon Crystal Power Make Up," she said, trying to will her voice not to tremble. If there was no transformation, she was really in for it. But the familiar sensation came over her and moments later she was wearing her familiar white fuku with the pink skirt, bow and kerchief.

The door hissed open.

"Back to your battle uniform, Princess?" Mehaat said with annoying confidence. He strode into the room with an air of power and authority. "I liked your other costume better. I prefer my wife to show as much of herself as possible."

"I'M NOT YOUR WIFE!" Sailor Moon snapped. Then she remembered her mother's admonition about her temper. "I'm not your wife."

"My father says you are," Mehaat replied, walking toward her with an easy, confident gait, "and he is king."

"He's not my king."

"Oh, but he is. Our marriage symbolized the induction of your world into the Alliance. That makes his word your law."

"What is this 'Alliance' anyway?" Sailor Moon said, giving ground to Mehaat's casual advance.

"A federation of worlds that we govern and protect."

"I'm sure," scowled Sailor Moon. "From what little I've seen, you people don't look like the protective type. I'm sure 'exploit' is a better word."

"Semantics," Mehaat shrugged. "We choose to spread our influence because our strength allows us to do so. Those within our influence make us stronger still."

"Until you have an empire so large and so far-flung that it's impossible for you to control it," Sailor Moon countered. "And then it all comes crumbling down. My planet's history is littered with examples of this. I'm sure it's the same on every world you've 'allied' with."

There was a hint of a sober expression on Mehaat's face that suggested to the pink senshi that Mehaat had thought of this as well.

"The lament of the defeated," Mehaat said as he kept coming. Sailor Moon felt the wall press against her back. "You're intelligent as well as courageous. I like that, too. I find it stimulating. Some day when our son is suckling at your breast, we'll have to take up the debate again."

With unexpected speed, Mehaat lurched forward. His hands seized Sailor Moon by the upper arms and his weight pinned her against the wall.

"But I'm not here to debate history with you," Mehaat smiled, his red eyes penetrating and focused. "I'm here to consummate our union."

"NO!" Sailor Moon screamed.

Swiftly, just as Makoto had once taught her, she brought her knee up between Mehaat's legs with as much speed and force as she could muster. Part of her cringed at hurting another person, but her survival instinct drowned that voice out. However, her knee hit something hard rather than soft, yielding tissue. She looked up at Mehaat with shock.

"I would be a poor soldier indeed," Mehaat smiled, "if I went into battle without armor."

Mehaat leaned into her. Sailor Moon squirmed, trying to pull free, but Mehaat had too much physical strength and too much leverage on her. She felt his strong body press against hers and momentarily felt the sensation of being swallowed whole by him.

"Stop!" she cried. Their eyes met. Mehaat froze, looking at her as if seeing her for the first time. The teen felt her heart thudding in her chest like it was about to burst from it.

And then he pulled away, turning his back on her. Sailor Moon skittered to the far end of the small room and eyed him warily.

"What is it?" Mehaat snarled. "What magic do you possess? How can you have them, how?"

"Have what?" Sailor Moon asked, still crouched warily in the far end of the room.

"When you looked at me like that just now," Mehaat said, dragging the words from his mouth with supreme effort. Then he turned and stared at Sailor Moon. "They're my mother's eyes. They had the same pain, the same fear that my mother had - - every time my father embraced her."

Sailor Moon remained silent, dumb-struck by his confession.

"And earlier, when we fought," Mehaat continued. "When your weapon touched me with its pink energy, I expected pain. I expected it to burn or to shock. But it - - it brought back - - memories. It was how I felt when my mother would caress me and comfort me after one of my beatings. It was - - my mother's adoration for me, the adoration she gave me in direct defiance of my father's wishes." He turned fully toward her, confused and just a little intimidated. "How do you do that? What power do you possess that allows you to conjure up the ghost of my mother?"

"It's probably not me," Sailor Moon told him, softly and calmly. "It's probably your conscience."

"Conscience?" Mehaat asked, openly confused. "I'm not familiar with this term."

"It's your inner voice," Sailor Moon explained. "A voice inside of you that tells you when you've done wrong. It's the accumulation of your regret."

"Regret? You speak in riddles."

"Do I? Or is there a part of you that knows this is wrong?"

"Taking what we want is wrong? You're deluded, wife. Taking what one wants is the province of the strong, whether it involves a wife or a world. To not do so would be wrong, because it would be a betrayal of our strength."

"Then why do you feel so bad about it?" Sailor Moon asked him. "Why do you stop short when you're about to follow in your father's footsteps? Why do you know, deep down, that your Alliance can't possibly maintain itself. You may not want to admit it, but I see it in your eyes. Deep down you're afraid that this system of government can't last."

"What?"

"Just like deep down you're afraid you're going to turn into your father when you're not looking."

Mehaat was across the room in a flash. Sailor Moon tried to dodge, but he pinned her against the wall again.

"I am Mehaat of Zachar," he hissed at her, his anger bubbling and churning, threatening to boil over onto Sailor Moon and scald her. "I fear nothing and no one. Do I hate my father? Of course I do. I despise his every breath for all the beatings I endured from him, despise him for stifling my ambitions, and yes despise him for everything he did to my mother up to and including the moment he strangled her in her sickbed for the crime of delivering my younger brother stillborn. I intend to slay him one day, as he slew his father, and ascend to the throne of Zachar. And I will hold this Alliance together with my bare hands if necessary, and make it grow until the entire universe belongs to us."

Sailor Moon stared up into Mehaat's intense gaze, stunned by his vehemence and the sudden change in his character that one word seemed to induce.

"And on the day one of our sons comes to slay me, I will face it without fear, for I am a Zacharian of the Royal Line. I live by battle and I die by battle. And if I die in that manner, I die gloriously!"

"Mehaat," Sailor Moon said, trying to reason with him. "It's not a sign of cowardice to realize what you're doing is wrong!"

"Enough talk!" he seethed. His hand hooked into the bodice of Sailor Moon's fuku. "You are my wife and you will perform your duty as a wife!"

Panic-stricken, Sailor Moon acted on reflex. She head-butted Mehaat, her tiara catching him squarely between the eyes. Mehaat reeled back, blood spurting from the bridge of his nose. Angrily he howled. Sailor Moon responded with a spinning roundhouse kick. Mehaat warded off the first kick, but her trailing leg caught him and spun him away. Landing on her feet, Sailor Moon turned and ran to the only door available to her. The door hissed open and she ran through it - - only to find she'd run into the bathroom. The door hissed closed behind her. Hearing Mehaat approach, Sailor Moon did the only thing she could think to do. Her shackles slammed twice against the door sensor, breaking it out and jamming the mechanism.

"Open this door!" bellowed Mehaat, his fist pounding on it. Sailor Moon looked around for an escape route, but she was trapped. "Very well! This door can easily be cut through with a laser torch! And then," and Mehaat paused, seeming to collect himself and fight back his blind rage, "and then you'll learn just how much of his ways my father has beaten into me!"

No other avenue was left to her. Sailor Moon summoned the Moon Scepter for her last stand.

"Your Highness Prince Kahrsamm!" came another voice from outside. She couldn't tell if it was a messenger or a communication. "Sensors indicate an energy anomaly on intercept course with the ship!"

Mehaat exhaled with frustration.

"Is it a ship?" he asked.

"Long range sensors detect a ship, but the energy anomaly is separate from it. Perhaps it's long-range weapons fire of some sort."

"Post guards at my quarters. My wife is to leave under no circumstances. I'm coming to the bridge."

Sailor Moon heard the outer door hiss open and then closed. Relief rushed over her body. As the Moon Scepter disappeared, the pink senshi sank to the commode in the room, unable to keep standing.

"This is a nightmare," Sailor Moon nearly sobbed. "Hell, I wish it was a nightmare! Then Helios would come to my rescue. Oh, Helios, I wish you were here!"

And then the light of inspiration sparked in the senshi's red eyes.

"I wonder if it would still work?" Sailor Moon asked herself, desperate to believe it true.

With solemn diligence she sank to one knee. Though she couldn't clasp her hands in front of her, she clasped her fingers together behind her, as much as the shackles would allow. Sailor Moon looked up to the ceiling reverently.

"Please, Helios," she pleaded, this time with a woman's voice and not a little girl's. "Protect people's dreams."

And her heart leaped as she felt the bell's handle materialize in her hand.

"Twinkle Yell!" Sailor Moon cried, ringing the bell. The sound reverberated around the small confines of the bathroom, seeming to grow louder with each moment. Then a golden light appeared. It grew until it encompassed the bathroom. Springing out of it was Pegasus. Sailor Moon was so elated that she wanted to cry.

Unfortunately the bathroom was too small for the magic equine's wings to properly extend or beat. It's legs pitching furiously, Pegasus came to a less that graceful landing between the commode and a sink.

"Helios!" Sailor Moon cried. "Are you all right?"

"Maiden!" Helios thought-cast to her. She saw the desperation in his eyes. "I've finally found you! I've been so desperately worried ever since I heard of what happened!"

"Oh, Helios, I'm so glad to see you!" Sailor Moon exclaimed, pressing her face and shoulder to his neck. "Right now I'd have settled for any friendly face, but yours is the one I was hoping for most of all!"

"To feel your touch again is worth more to me than all the gold and all the silver in all the lands, Maiden," Helios replied, nuzzling her back with his nose. His silken mane was trapped beneath Sailor Moon's face and to her it was like a pillow spun from the clouds.

"You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" she asked. "I suppose I should have got out of this bathroom first before I called you."

"I am shaken, but not injured," he told her. "The news of your abduction was a far more severe wound to me than anything I suffered just now." Sailor Moon kissed the equine on the neck. "Let me free you from your bonds, Maiden."

Reluctantly, Sailor Moon rose up and turned her back to Helios. It was difficult, because the small bathroom hadn't been built to accommodate both a human and a full-grown, winged horse. Pressed awkwardly against a wall, the senshi held her hands out behind her. The crystal horn on the Pegasus flared with a rainbow light, then a beam struck the shackles. Suddenly rendered inert, they fell away and clattered on the floor.

"Thank you," she said, draping her arms around the equine's neck and hugging him. Then her spirits sagged. "Can you change into your human form? I'm not sure you'll fit through the door this way."

"Not necessary, Maiden," the Pegasus cast to her. "I know a way off this ship that does not require doors or airlocks."

"Really? You can do that?"

"Maiden," he replied, looking her directly in the eye with an ardor that instantly gave the girl a new well-spring of confidence, "with you astride my back, I doubt there is anything in the universe that is beyond me."

"Oh, you sweet-talker!" Sailor Moon giggled and impulsively kissed him on the nose again.

Using the sink as a step-ladder, Sailor Moon less than gracefully managed to climb onto the equine's back. Suppressing a shiver as she felt the steed's muscular frame beneath her spread legs, Sailor Moon leaned forward and patted his neck to signal that she was on and ready.

Again the crystal horn of the Pegasus flared with a rainbow of light. With it, the room began to swirl around them like the mists of a bad dream, then fall away into black. As Pegasus spread his wings, he thought-cast to his love.

"Use your pink crystal, Maiden," he told her. "Link it with my crystal horn, so that I may draw upon your energies to shield us."

Without hesitation, Sailor Moon did as her love requested. The heart-shaped gather on her chest bow began to glow with an unnatural radiance. The radiance seemed to encompass them both in a soft pink glow. Then white specks began to appear in the black surrounding them. It took a moment for her to realize where they were.

"Helios?" she gasped anxiously, heedless that there should be no air in space for her to talk with.

"Do not fear, Maiden," Pegasus replied. "We are protected from the ravages of space so long as we remain in contact. Hold on to me, Maiden."

The Pegasus banked right and the Zacharian ship came into view. She could also see the energy form of her father approaching the ship, and an Earth long-range ship behind him. Giddy, she waved at Endymion's energy form. The form stopped and seemed to stare. Then it seemed to blow her a kiss and continued for the Zacharian ship. Sailor Moon thought she saw her father smiling - - but she wasn't sure.

"Where are we headed, Helios?" she asked, daring to relax.

"Home, Maiden," he replied.

"Home," Sailor Moon repeated. She felt her eyes mist and a lump in her throat. "Helios, I'm so happy right now I could marry . . ."

The rest of her words caught in her throat, throttled by guilt and unease.

On the bridge of the Zacharian vessel, Mehaat was monitoring the approach of their two pursuing entities. The ship he knew how to handle. The energy being was a new challenge to him, but Prince Mehaat was confident that it could be dealt with.

Then a sight he had never witnessed before crossed the forward monitor. Several of his crew grew excited upon seeing this fantastically impossible sight. Mehaat's wife, the pink-tressed Earth princess, rode through the cold vacuum of space astride a gleaming white winged animal. They vectored forty-two degrees to port and disappeared from view.

"Get a restraining beam on them!" barked Mehaat. "How this is even possible, I don't know, but you are not going to humiliate me in this manner, Wife!"

"Highness!" gasped the crewman at the weapons console. "Sensor lock is inoperable! It says - - Highness, according to our instruments, there's nothing to lock onto!"

Mehaat barreled over to the console and looked for himself. Sure enough, the sensor sweep registered the energy being and the ship behind him, but nothing to their port. Pushing a button brought up the port monitor. There they were, flying away from the ship - - and yet, the sensors said nothing was there.

"BAH!" fumed Mehaat, heading for the lift. "I'll pursue her myself in a fighter!"

"But Highness!" his second in command urgently said, stopping Mehaat. "What of the pursuing ship and the energy anomaly?"

"Are you not soldiers of the Alliance?" bellowed Mehaat. "Do you cower in fear like children at the first sign of opposition? If they pursue, attack them and kill them! Call for reinforcements if a lone ship scares you so! Zachar is but a parsec away!"

"As you command, Highness," his second nodded crisply. "They will not reach home world."

Mehaat nodded and was off into the lift to pursue his bride, to the ends of the universe if need be. For no one humbled Prince Mehaat save his father - - and soon even that would change.

Continued in Chapter 7


	7. Flight Among The Stars

THE HOSTAGE BRIDE

Chapter 7: "Flight Through The Stars"

By Bill K.

As they flew through space on the heels of King Endymion, Sailor Neptune glanced over at Sailor Uranus. Uranus was piloting the ship she and the other senshi rode in, expertly as usual. Her mate's skills weren't a concern to Neptune. She looked for other reasons.

"You really don't miss it," Neptune remarked in a voice low enough that, hopefully, only Uranus could hear. The sandy blonde glanced to her.

"What? Space?" Uranus asked. "Not really, I guess." Then she noticed the smirk on her lover's lips. "What?"

"I never thought I'd see the day you became domesticated."

"Disappointed?"

"Hardly. It's just - - unexpected."

"Hell, we did enough traveling in space," Uranus shrugged. "When a trip through space becomes as common as a drive in the countryside, there's not much romance left to it. Might as well stay home."

"And yet you still race aeronautic vehicles," Neptune remarked with a raised eyebrow. Uranus knew that was a sign her bull meter was engaged. "I doubt there's much romance there."

"Well," Uranus grinned, then glanced back at Saturn chattering with the Asteroid Senshi, "maybe its because I've finally got a reason to stay home." She looked back at Neptune. "After all, the only other reason I had was willing to come with me."

Neptune turned back to her instrument panel, her cheeks reddening slightly. Uranus always liked the way she tried to hide it.

"Uranus, I've got sensor contact with the Zacharian ship," Neptune announced from her co-pilot's position. Instantly Venus, Jupiter and Mars were up out of their seats and looking over her shoulder.

"Is it still on the same heading?" Uranus asked.

"Yes. Endymion's closing on it. He'll overtake the ship in a few minutes."

"Glory hog," Urauns muttered. "Leave us some of the battle."

"Is Usa all right? Can you tell?" Mars asked anxiously.

"The sensors aren't that sensitive, Mars," Neptune replied with amusement. "Ship is slowing. They're turning to fight."

"Sure they're not turning to surrender?" Venus quipped.

"We couldn't get that lucky," Jupiter scowled. She could feel the Asteroids behind her. But, unseen by the elder senshi, the younger group moved away at a signal from Sailor Vesta.

"I think we ought to jump onto that ship," Vesta suggested to the group once they were out of earshot.

"We don't know what's over there," Juno warned, ever the voice of reason.

"We know one thing that's over there," Vesta countered sharply. "The person we're sworn to protect."

"It'd be easier if we knew where she was on that ship," Ceres mused.

"Good point," Vesta nodded. She turned to Pallas. "Hey, Stupid, you think you can home in on the Princess's thoughts again?"

Pallas seemed to stare for a few moments with a far away look. Then she realized she was being addressed and returned to this reality.

"Um," she began, gathering her thoughts, "Pallas can try. But . . ."

"That's all we need you to do," Vesta nodded. "Everybody in?"

Saturn and the other Asteroids nodded - - even Juno. Clasping hands and forming a circle, they all reached down into themselves and drew out their power. As their tiara's began to glow, energy swirled around them like a cyclone. Alerted by the change in air pressure, Venus, Jupiter and Mars turned to them.

"Girls, wait!" Jupiter shouted. She started for them, but Venus held her back.

"SAILOR TELEPORT!" they all called out. The energy cyclone engulfed them, then died away. Jupiter looked at Venus, silently demanding an explanation.

"Let them go, 'Mommy'," Venus remarked. "We've got to stop holding their hands sometime."

The five senshi materialized onto midships. When the act was complete, they looked around. The deck was outfitted like a small tournament ground, with blunted handheld weaponry mounted on the walls and peculiar grids laid out on the deck. The five seemed confused.

"It looks like some battle arena," Juno judged.

"Love the decor," scowled Ceres. "World War III traditional."

Suddenly an alert claxon began to sound loudly.

"I think we may have been discovered," Saturn told them, her glaive up and ready to use.

"Pallas! Can you lock in on the Princess?" barked Vesta. Pallas concentrated, then nodded. "Where is she?"

"Gone," Pallas answered.

"What do you mean 'gone'?" Saturn asked with more than a hint of desperation.

"She flew off with Prince Horsie-Man," Pallas reported dutifully, "before we jumped over. Pallas had a vision of it."

"Prince Horsie - - Helios?" Juno goggled.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING, STUPID?" Vesta roared.

Pallas' lower lip began to protrude. "You didn't give Pallas the chance."

The four senshi groaned. Just then a squad of Zacharian military burst into the room, weapons drawn.

"SILENCE WALL!" Saturn shouted, shielding her fellow senshi from the report of the Zacharian laser weapons.

"So now what, Fearless Leader?" snapped Ceres, eyeing Vesta with displeasure.

"Only thing we can do," Vesta shrugged, crouched and ready for battle. "We kick ass until there's no more ass to kick, then we teleport after the Princess. Fauna Assimilation - - Falcon!"

Vesta changed into a black falcon. She shoved off the deck into the air, arced above Saturn's shield, then dived at the squad, raking one of the soldiers across the face with her talons.

"Beautiful Incantation!" Pallas shouted. Instantly, unseen hands plucked the blunted practice weapons off the walls and launched them at the soldiers like missiles. Ceres turned impatiently to Juno.

"We can't teleport without Saturn and she's keeping those lasers off our backs," Juno shrugged. "I guess Vesta called it right." Juno turned to battle. "Aqua Initiation!" Instantly coolant pipes burst in the walls, spraying the soldiers with frigid high pressure water.

"Oh wow! One in a row!" snorted Ceres. She plucked three soil filled seed pouches from her fuku and flung them at the soldiers. "Floral Stimulation!"

That was the act that turned the tide. Battered by Juno and Pallas, and wounded by Vesta, the soldiers were quickly entangled in a massive, phenomenally growing creeping vine until they were held rigid and helpless. With no more need for it, Saturn dropped her shield. Ceres walked over and caressed one of the leaves on the vine.

"Just hold the nasty men a little longer, sweetie," she cooed while Vesta made a face after returning to human.

"Come on," Juno prodded. "Let's get out of here before more of them show up."

"Do we even know where we're going?" Ceres demanded.

"If I were Helios and I had the Princess on my back, I know where I'd go," Vesta smirked. Ceres rolled her eyes. Saturn blushed. Juno tried to smother a laugh.

"The zoo?" Pallas asked innocently.

* * *

Hours had passed on Earth, and it seemed like Queen Serenity had spent the entire time pacing in the communications room while Artemis and the communications techs tried to establish contact with Zachar. Ami had been in and out several times, tending to other things but still wanting to keep an eye on Serenity. Even though she had Serenity monitored with the sensor patch, Ami still wanted to see the Queen's health for herself.

Luna hadn't left. She'd long since given up on trying to talk the Queen into leaving, taking a rest or even sitting down. However, you'd have to get a pry bar to get her to leave Serenity's side. Just then Ami walked in again.

"Are you still pacing?" the doctor gasped.

"Well, you're always telling me to get more exercise," fussed the Queen. "This is my exercise for today." Ami scowled.

"You don't happen to have another of those sedatives, do you?" Luna asked pointedly.

"Hush, Luna," Serenity said.

"Serenity, pacing and worrying is only going to negatively affect your health," Ami warned. Serenity stopped in her tracks, her face hidden from everyone.

"What else can I do?" she squeaked. No one needed to see her face to know the tears were flowing. Everyone heard the emotion in her voice. "They've got my baby, Ami! And they won't give her back! And-and if I try to take her back, they'll hurt her! Maybe kill her!" The Queen snuffled loudly as Ami gathered her in and Luna padded closer. "So what am I supposed to do, Ami?"

"I . . ." Ami began, but even she was at a loss for words.

"It's all I can do to keep from asking the Silver Crystal to bring her back to me," Serenity whimpered. "I know the energy exchange would probably kill me. I don't mind - - not if it brought her back safe. It's just - - it would make her and Endymion so sad. I couldn't do that to them."

"Your Majesty," Luna offered softly, "victories are rarely won after the first contact. This is as true in diplomacy as it is in war. You mustn't give up hope - - and you mustn't falter. The Princess is depending upon you, as is all of this world. And they've chosen to depend upon you because they believe in you and your ability to succeed. Perseverance, Your Majesty."

"You're right, of course, Luna," Serenity said weakly. "It's just - - Usa is going to suffer so in the mean time."

"I'm getting long range sensor contact with a fleet of spaceships!" Artemis announced suddenly. Everyone perked up. Ami and Luna left the Queen to look at the white cat's screen.

"How many?" Ami asked.

"Eight," Artemis reported. "And they match the Zacharian design."

"A conscription force, perhaps?" Luna posed.

"It wouldn't surprise me," Artemis nodded.

"Incoming communication!" one of the techs shouted. The screen activated. On it was one more of a seemingly endless parade of military-hewn Zacharians.

"This is Shipleader Tehrmatt of the Zacharian strike force six," the alien announced. "We are here to collect the first consignment of military conscriptees from this world."

"This is Queen Serenity," Serenity said, stepping forward. "We have no intention of complying with your demands. Please leave our space peacefully."

"You are in direct defiance of your planet's conscription quota, as set forth by Zacharian Royal Decree," Tehrmatt shot back belligerently. "You will comply or face reprisals!"

"Please," begged Serenity. "Please don't force this situation to violence. I will not let you take my people. Can't you accept that and go?"

"Apparently you require a demonstration," Tehrmatt glared. Then he swung his command chair to the left. "Gunnery Console! Bring weapons to bear on this reception point! Fire at will!"

With the speed of thought, Serenity levitated from the room and passed out through the wall. Ami and Luna raced to the nearest window and looked up. They saw Serenity two miles in the sky, floating like a living shield while a crimson energy beam struck her directly in the chest.

"It seems to be a hyper-accelerated laser beam," Ami judged. "If only I could get a closer look."

"It won't hurt Serenity, will it?" Luna asked anxiously.

Ami glanced at her PDF. "It doesn't seem to be affecting her."

The beam died away. Serenity took on a silver glow, then flared to brilliant white. Ami and Luna felt a pulse of energy pass through them.

"Your weapons no longer work," they heard Serenity say in their mind. "Please go now. Tell your King to return my daughter and leave us in peace."

The response of the strike force was immediate. Seven more red laser beams lanced through the blue Earth sky. Serenity caught them all with an energy field she generated. Her twin tails of blonde hair fluttered behind her, while the winged bow on her gown glistened in the sky. Ami glanced again at her PDF. Luna sensed her tense.

"Ami?" the black cat asked.

"Her readings are not good," Ami reported. "Holding all that energy at bay is taxing her."

"Her shield could crumble?"

"Either that or she could faint and fall to Earth. A fall from that height would kill her."

Luna looked back up at the sky and grimaced.

"It's," the little cat began hoarsely, "what she has to do - - to protect her people. It's what her mother did when Beryl attacked."

After an interminable stretch, the beams finally died away. Serenity took a moment to gather herself, then pulsed silver once more.

"Now all your weapons are dead," Serenity's voice echoed in their brains. "Please, I beg you, go and leave us in peace."

Ami and Luna continued to stare up into the sky. What they both feared soon came to pass. Eight fiery dots appeared in the sky over Crystal Tokyo, headed for the city.

"They're going to crash their ships into the city!" Ami gasped. "It's a kamikazi run!"

The specks in the sky grew larger and more brilliant as their outer hulls burned in the atmosphere. Three of the ships seemed aimed right at Serenity, while the other five fanned out for maximum damage. Serenity hovered in the sky, stunned by their behavior, until the cluster was nearly upon her.

An energy field sprang up between the on-coming ships and Serenity. The eight ships impacted the field within seconds of each other and exploded in massive fireballs. The force of the explosions rocked the city below and sent Serenity spinning out of control to the ground below. As Ami and Luna watched in alarm, the Queen tumbled for nearly a mile before righting herself, then turned and gathered the debris from the ships into her energy field. The remains were launched into space. Only then did the Queen turn and float back to the palace - - quite unsteadily to the eyes of those watching her from below. As she floated haltingly to a landing on the balcony two windows down, Ami and Luna raced to her side. Ami caught her as Serenity's legs gave way beneath her and eased the sovereign to the floor. Luna could see she was crying again.

"I only meant to catch them!" wailed Serenity. "Why would they do that?"

"To destroy you," Luna told her. "And leave us defenseless. Clearly life has no value to them, Your Majesty - - theirs or ours."

"That's insane," she shook her head while Ami administered a hypodermic spray to her. "What kind of a culture are they?"

"Cold and militaristic, from what I've been able to observe," Ami said. "Serenity, you barely survived this attack."

"But I did survive, Ami," Serenity told her. "There wasn't any other choice."

"Nevertheless," Ami persisted. "They're going to be back. It's the most logical assumption. What are you going to do when they bring twenty ships? Or arm their ships with more powerful weapons?"

Serenity's silence betrayed her lack of an answer for Ami's questions.

* * *

Pegasus continued to fly through space, Sailor Moon on his back. They were protected by the elements by the pink energy field generated by them both in unison, a sensation that Sailor Moon was quickly realizing felt more than a little - - arousing. Feeling Helios connected to her through her crystal was a magical sensation. It was almost like touching his soul. She thought she'd been close to him before, but it was nothing like what she felt now. Was this how her parents felt when they combined their energies?

"No wonder they've been in love so long," Sailor Moon mumbled.

"Did you speak, Maiden?" Pegasus thought-cast to her.

"Um," she began, feeling herself flushing like a little girl, "it's nothing. How soon until we get to Elysian?"

"Elysian?" Pegasus asked. "I was taking you to Earth. I assumed you would wish to reunite with your parents and your friends."

"Oh," she said softly.

"Was I in error?"

"No, that's fine. You know best. I'm just along for the ride."

And the flex of the equine's back muscles between her legs made the young senshi's thoughts wander again.

But Sailor Moon was shaken out of her reverie by a streak of bright red energy to their left. She clung to Pegasus as the winged horse shifted to the right, both to avoid the blast and anymore that might come, and to see where the blast came from.

"A small ship pursues us, Maiden," Pegasus thought to her.

"The Zacharians, I'll bet! Guess they don't take too kindly to runaway brides!"

And Sailor Moon's hand went to her mouth, for she realized she had said too much.

The ship came at them fast, firing crimson beams of light. Pegasus bucked upward, then glided over the canopy of the single pilot fighter, avoiding its strafing run. Sailor Moon tried to detach one of her hands from the equine's neck to summon her scepter, yet avoid being bucked off. As the fighter passed beneath him, she saw the pilot.

"It's Mehaat!" she gasped.

The fighter banked crisply and was upon them again. Pegasus sped forward, trying to outrace his pursuer and avoid the fire. Sailor Moon struggled to hang on and get off a shot in return from her Moon Scepter. Mehaat had the upper hand, though. Pegasus couldn't outrace him for long and to turn either way was to turn into his laser fire. Smiling grimly, he bore in for the kill.

"Moon Princess Halation!" Sailor Moon called out desperately.

Pink tendrils shot out wildly at the fighter. Mehaat goggled at the unfamiliar sight, then fired once as the tendrils wrapped around him, filling him with a peace and contentment the like of which he had not known since early in his youth. But the laser shot lanced out and struck true. As Mehaat drifted off into a slumber of utter contentment, he saw the beam clip Pegasus on the right wing.

"HELIOS!" Sailor Moon shrieked as she and the winged equine careened down toward a dark and barren planet below them.

Continued in Chapter 8


	8. Stranded

THE HOSTAGE BRIDE

Chapter 8: "Stranded"

By Bill K.

Sailor Moon felt Pegasus struggle beneath her to stay aloft. She felt the muscles in his back strain until they were thick cords beneath her, shivering with tension and stress. But the red gash in his wing kept the limb from flapping in unison with its partner and the pair spiraled down toward a dark planet. As they passed through the atmosphere, protected magically by the energy aura around them, the pair spun toward the planet. Pegasus was hopelessly thrown off balance by his injury and, for all her vaunted power and all her fervent wishes, Sailor Moon could only hang on and hope that the combination of his wings and their aura could protect them from serious injury.

Inside the atmosphere, the pair were pelted by a driving rain. Howling winds battered them in the sky, making the efforts of Pegasus all the more useless. Seeing no safer alternative, Pegasus nosed down and headed for the ground and as soft a landing as he could manage. But unexpectedly a downdraft cut the last bit of support out from under him. Equine and rider fell to the ground and skidded hard. Sailor Moon was thrown from Pegasus. She sailed several feet forward, carried by momentum, then struck the ground and rolled to a painful stop. The pair lay unmoving for several minutes.

Finally Sailor Moon began to stir.

"Helios?" she mumbled, then spat dirt from her lips. Struggling to rise, the girl grabbed her arm in pain and looked at it. Her upper arm was scraped raw and an ugly bruise was welling beneath what skin was left. Similar scrapes were on her thighs. Most of her skin was soiled in dirt and mud, as was her costume. She blew some dangling pink hair out of her eyes. "Helios, are you OK?"

Then she saw him. He lay on the ground at an awkward angle, reverted to human form, his right arm resting unnaturally behind him. Dirt and mud sullied his white robes and his thick white hair. He didn't move.

"HELIOS!" she shrieked and scrambled on all fours toward him, not wanting even to waste the time to stand. She had to get to him. She had to get to him now!

Reaching him, Sailor Moon turned him over onto her lap. She noticed for the first time that he still breathed. Cradling his head in her lap, she tenderly caressed his face, panic in her throat.

"Oh, Helios," she whispered, feeling tears welling again. "What can I do? How do I help you? Please wake up and tell me!"

The rains beat down harder on them. Looking around for shelter, Sailor Moon spotted a cave nearby. Whipping herself to her feet, the senshi grabbed Helios by the tunic and dragged him across the muddy stretch. As she pulled, she was dimly aware of how much it hurt her to do so. But her mission drowned out the pain. Her Helios needed her. She'd be hurt later.

Once inside the cave, she looked around for plants of some kind to use as a mattress. There was nothing. The only thing that seemed to grow in this area were stubby, harsh shrubbery on the side of the rocky mountain that contained this cave. Sighing with frustration, Sailor Moon dragged Helios to the softest spot she could find. There she sat down and once more cradled his head in her lap, her hands lovingly caressing his face. At once she thought to use the restorative power of the Moon Scepter. But before she could use it, Helios began to stir.

"Maiden?" he asked blearily, then smiled. "Either we both survived - - or the tales of the afterlife are true."

Sailor Moon laughed nervously, scarcely daring to hope. "Are you hurt?"

He shifted and began to answer. Then his face twisted with searing pain.

"Helios, what is it?" she cried.

"My right shoulder," he hissed. She helped him turn over, then pulled the tunic away. On his shoulder was a deep, ugly gash, alternately red, purple and black. The wound stood out all the more against the fair skin of the Dream Prince.

"Oh, Helios!" Sailor Moon gasped. "It must be where you were hit by the laser! It's all black and purple! Maybe it's infected!"

"I doubt it," he wheezed in discomfort. "No doubt the laser cauterized the wound. Perhaps I also injured the bone or joint when I landed."

Sailor Moon held her hand over her head. The Moon Scepter materialized in it.

"Moon Princess Halation!" she said, having absolutely no idea whether it would work. She just knew she had to do something.

The pink energy sprang gently from the scepter. Soft, peaceful tendrils of pink energy eased down and began caressing Helios, particularly around the wound. As they worked, Sailor Moon could see the expression on Helios' face lighten and soften. He exhaled a sigh of relief and it was music to her ears. Intently she poured her pink energy into him. Whatever she was doing was working and she would keep doing it until he was well. Pride began to build in her chest as Helios became more visibly content and at peace.

Out of nowhere a wave of dizziness flooded over the teen. Her vision blurred. Her hearing seemed to shut down. Dimly she was aware of something being amiss.

And then, nothing.

* * *

Mehaat pulled himself from the stupor he had been in and looked around. His fighter had crashed on the planet and was wrecked. There was still power to the console, though. His first order of business was to activate the automatic homing beacon on the ship. This would alert the mother ship of the crash and his location so they could pick him up.

Finding the fighter's canopy jammed due to the crash, Mehaat activated the explosive bolts. The canopy was blown into the air and landed some feet away as the Zacharian extricated himself from the mangled cockpit. Though physically shaken, he had no injuries. The protective shielding of the fighter had seen to that.

The Prince looked around. It was a dismal world that seemed populated with some rudimentary plant life and a few small lizards scurrying from bush to bush. There were no signs of civilization, or of intelligent life of any kind. Perhaps a small planet in its evolutionary infancy? The elements indicated as such. A pouring rain continued to strike Mehaat, plastering his drenched blue hair onto his scalp. Pulling himself to his feet, the Zacharian surveyed the land for some sign of his quarry.

He knew they were here. He'd seen Princess Usagi and her strange winged animal spin into the clouds before he lost control of his own ship. She was here. And if she lived, he was going to drag her back to Zachar by her pink hair if he had to.

And just like that, the strength evacuated his legs. Mehaat toppled back against the wreckage of his fighter. It was happening again.

His hand went up to his cheeks and wiped away the moisture he knew was not rain. Crying? He was Prince Mehaat Kahrsamn of the Zacharian Galactic Alliance. He was one of the most fierce warriors in the entire Alliance. How could he be crying? Had he not survived pitched battles with wounds greater than these? Had he not executed entire races of beings without a thought? Had he not endured the most savage beatings his father could mete out and stand all the more tall?

"Those pink tendrils," he whispered, his confusion a thing alive inside him and breeding the thing a warrior dreaded most - - fear. "What did she do to me?"

There had been only one other time in his life after the age of three that he had cried. Even its memory gave him pain. The day he watched his father stalk out of the Royal Chambers, the day he peered in at age eight and saw his mother laying on her sickbed, dead and staring up at the ceiling in horror, red finger marks still etched into her throat - - just as she had predicted to him one night years before.

And suddenly it came to him. The tendrils - - when they touched him, their caress reminded him of his mother, when she would caress his scars and sing him to sleep. It was a sensation he hadn't felt in nearly fifteen years. And he cried now, he realized, because he missed it so much.

But such things were not for warriors. Forcing himself to his feet, Mehaat started off in search of that which belonged to him.

* * *

The Zacharian ship continued to fire upon Endymion's energy form with little success. Lasers were absorbed by the energy wraith, while conventional explosives were deflected by the being's sword. Meanwhile the ship took hit after hit from what their sensors could only describe as green plant stems with red flowers. Not only did the plants fly through space propelled by nothing the sensors could detect, but they instantly corrupted any circuitry in the hull upon contact, a feat that defied all common logic.

"Nothing seems to affect this creature, Leader!" the soldier at the sensor board reported.

"Something has to," Second Ship's Leader Lehemn murmured as he watched the battle with a seasoned eye.

"Another volley!" Sensors replied. "Taking damage amidships! Sections eighty-seven through one-nineteen scrambled and off-line!"

"Our deflectors are useless against this weapon, Leader!" the helm officer reported. "Recommend we ram!"

"No," Lehemn shook his head. "This ship needs to be intact to pick up Prince Mehaat. He couldn't get back to Zachar in a short range fighter. Communications, is the home world advised of our situation?"

"Yes, Leader!" the communications officer reported. "Zachar has advised that a strike force of six ships is en route."

"Then our primary mission becomes the safety of Prince Mehaat," Lehemn nodded. "Helm, come about! Two thirty-two by two sixteen by sixty-six. Lock on to the Prince's homing beacon and rendezvous. The strike force can handle these creatures."

"We're running?" gasped the helm officer. He came up out of his seat and confronted Lehemn.

"We are making a strategic shift in order to best serve the King and the Alliance," Lehemn said with low menace. "Are you questioning my decision or my authority?"

The officer stood there, unwilling to back down, but unsure how to proceed. A slight tension filled the bridge of the warship. Then, with surprising speed, Lehemn drew his sword. The helm officer tried to do likewise, but the blade was only out of its sheath when Lehemn's struck with deadly accuracy. He turned the blade once inside the young officer's chest for maximum internal damage, then drew it down, slicing open the man's abdomen. The young officer collapsed in a pool of his own internal organs.

Calmly, Lehemn signaled to other bridge personnel. Two lower officers began cleaning up the mess while a third slid into the helm chair.

"Execute my command," he said to the junior officer while calmly sheathing his blade.

As the ship veered off, Endymion pulled up. There was a need in him to exact some sort of penalty from them for what they'd put his daughter through. But that was overridden by his concern for her. He knew that she was in trusted hands with Helios. Yet she was his little girl and the need to watch over her still ruled him. The ship containing the senshi eased up beside him.

And then, he had a flash of distress from Usa. Endymion, still in his energy form, whirled around in the direction the flash had originated from. Had something happened? The ship and everything else was forgotten. Endymion had to go to his daughter.

But he stopped short when another wave of distress flooded over him, this time from Serenity. Serenity was in danger, too. Both his wife and his daughter needed him and they were in separate places. The King thought a moment, then acted.

"Endymion!" Mars gasped as the King materialized onto the small pursuit ship. "Is something wrong? Is it Serenity?" As usual, Mars had seen more than a person should.

"I'm getting a sense of distress from both her and Usa," he told them.

"How bad is it?" Mars asked, a quaver in her voice.

"I'm not sensing Usa now. Perhaps the crisis has passed," he reasoned. "Can you go after Usa? I need to go to Serenity. I can make it to her faster."

"If it's any comfort, I spotted the Asteroids teleport bubble rocket off a little while ago," Neptune told him. "They're en route to her, I'm sure of it. And she was with Helios."

Endymion nodded. He converted to energy form, passed through the ship and away back to Earth. The remaining senshi looked anxiously at each other, wondering what could be happening on Earth.

"We should have stayed," Jupiter muttered. Venus glanced at her, because she had been thinking the same thing.

* * *

"Maiden?"

Sailor Moon heard the name and sluggishly responded to it. Her eyes opened and she found Helios there, his face pressed up to hers and his hands holding her upper arms. A silver hair dangled across his pale blue eyes, eyes drowning in concern for her.

"How do you feel?" she asked, still light-headed.

"Much improved. Your Halation has lessened my injury and restored some of my vitality." Helios looked at her gravely. "But it is a far, far inequitable exchange if you are harmed in the process, Maiden."

"So sweet," she murmured. Her head was clearing. It was sweet of him to say, but the desperate desire that hid behind those pale blue eyes was now evident to her. Her whole body seemed to flush. And suddenly, all Sailor Moon could think of was wanting to kiss those lips that had said such sweet things.

She moved in and was met half way by Helios. Their mouths joined and the world melted away. The adrenalin that had been generated by her situation, their daring escape and his reassuring proximity spiked and with it passion that she had always known was there. If only that skunk Mehaat could see them now . . .

Her passions cooled by that single thought, Sailor Moon pulled away. She turned her face from Helios and hid her expression of guilt.

"Maiden?" Helios asked after her, confused and concerned for her.

"Helios," she said softly, her voice timid with shame. "I have to tell you something. When I was a prisoner, they - - forced me to - - to marry one of them. Prince Mehaat."

"Did he touch you?" Helios said. His tone was gentle and concerned, but Sailor Moon detected the merest hint of anger as well. It was a tone she hadn't heard since they were both captives of Queen Neherenia.

"He didn't get the chance," she said, still not looking at him. "I'm sure it was on the agenda. Helios - - I'm sorry."

Softly fingers cupped around her chin. Reverently her face was directed to face his.

"Do you recognize this union, Maiden?" he asked.

"Recognize? I don't understand."

"You are a free woman, Maiden. None may say who you are wedded to but you. You are the sole proprietor of your heart. A hundred thousand million voices may scream in unison that you are wed, but if you say that you are not," and he looked at her with such earnest respect and adoration that Sailor Moon felt her heart melt, "then they are all liars, charlatans and fools."

A smile bloomed on the face of the young princess, a smile so wide and so radiant and so full of joy that it threatened to escape the boundaries of her being and consume the entirety of space.

"I love you so!" she half-sobbed. Flinging her arms around her love, she pressed her lips to his again, attempting to pass her joy to him.

As the kiss went on, joy quickly turned to passion again. Things were forgotten in their growing embrace: the situation, the place, the time, and most certainly above all the propriety of civilization. The primal quality of their surroundings, the pulse-pounding excitement of their survival and the earnest depth of their feelings inflamed their young senses. Nothing else mattered and nothing else registered. There was only them, adrift on a sea of ardor, with the pelting sound of the rain outside the small cave matching two hearts suddenly beating as one.

At the mouth of the cave, a small lizard peered in seeking shelter from the rain. It saw what they did, concluded what it saw wasn't a threat to itself, and skittered on its way.

Continued in Chapter 9


	9. Confronting Reality

THE HOSTAGE BRIDE

Chapter 9: "Confronting Reality"

By Bill K.

The transport bubble landed on the surface of the small planet. Inside, the five senshi heard the driving rain pelt the outside of the energy sphere. They looked around.

"You're sure she's here, Pallas?" Sailor Juno asked.

"Pallas thinks so," Sailor Pallas replied, uncertain. "But she's not sure. She can't hear the Princess's thoughts right now."

"She's here," Sailor Saturn said. There was an eerie calm about the senshi's proclamation, so eerie that no one wanted to ask her how she knew. Saturn was a popular friend to them all, but there were times when the girl seemed like she was from another universe.

The transport bubble dissipated. Instantly, Sailor Ceres cupped her hands over her head.

"My hair is going to be ruined by this rain!" she groused.

"Aqua Initiation!" Juno called out. "Stop, please."

Immediately the rain slackened to a drizzle. In moments it had stopped, though the sky remained clouded over. Everyone looked at Juno.

"What?" Juno asked. "Rain is just water."

"You've been holding out on us," Sailor Vesta mumbled. "So which way?"

"That way," Saturn pointed, again with an eerie calm.

"I'll scout ahead for trouble," Vesta told them. "Fauna Assimilation - - Red-tailed Hawk!"

Transforming into a hawk, Vesta launched into the air and flew ahead to scout the terrain. The others followed on foot, with Saturn at the point.

"Not much of a planet, is it?" Ceres said.

"Seems pretty primitive," Juno replied.

"The plant life is certainly primitive. Not very articulate, either."

"Maybe you just don't speak their language," Juno joked.

"I understand 'grunt'," Ceres huffed. "Remember, I live with Vesta."

Juno suppressed a smile. "Hear anything, Pallas?"

"No," Pallas reported. "But it doesn't always work when Pallas tries to hear someone."

"Just do your best," Juno told her, patting the diminutive senshi on the shoulder.

Pallas nodded. "Pallas is sure the Princess and Prince Horsie-Man are all right." Pallas colored with chagrin. "Oops. Wrong thoughts."

Saturn colored slightly as well.

Just then, Vesta the hawk swooped down on them. Juno extended her arm and, still in her hawk form, Vesta perched on it with the balance of an acrobat.

"Spot anything?" Saturn asked her.

"Cave about fifty meters ahead," Vesta said while in her hawk form. "Looks like something might have been dragged in. The rain didn't wash all the marks away. It could be them."

"And it could be a bear," Ceres warned.

"Doubt it. I haven't seen anything larger than a small lizard. I'm not sure there is any animal life on this planet beyond small reptiles. It's pretty primitive."

"It's worth checking out," Saturn told them. "I'm still sensing Usa in this direction."

Juno nodded. "Let's go."

Vesta launched and headed back for the cave while the others followed. As they neared it, they noticed Saturn's pace began to quicken. Concerned, the rest moved to keep up.

"That's it!" Saturn cried, heading for the cave with a burst of speed once it was in sight. "She's in there! I can feel it!"

"Saturn, wait! We don't know what might be in there with her!" Juno called out. But Saturn would not be stopped. Concerned, Vesta swooped in and landed, changing back into her human form as Saturn entered the cave at full speed. Vesta followed, ready to change as needed.

"Sailor Moon!" Saturn called urgently, racing into the cave. "Are you in here? Sailor Moon! Sailor Moon, are you - - OH MY GOODNESS!"

The senshi stopped and put her hand to her mouth. Her eyes widened and stared at the sight of her friends nestled together, naked and sleeping on the cave floor.

Vesta stopped in surprise as Saturn suddenly buzzed past her at light speed. She noticed Saturn's face was as red as a beet and her eyes were about to pop out of her skull.

"What happened?" Juno asked when she caught up to Vesta.

"I don't know," Vesta said.

The pair ventured forward a few steps, then stopped.

"Whoops," Juno whispered.

"Whoops is right," chuckled Ceres, who was now behind them. "You go girl."

"What is it?" Pallas asked, approaching fast.

"Nothing, Stupid! Outside!" Vesta roared. She grabbed Pallas and quickly hustled her back out of the cave.

"But why?"

"Just - - OUTSIDE!"

"BUT PALLAS WANTS TO SEE, TOO!" the senshi wailed.

By this point, Sailor Moon and Helios were awake.

"Uh," Juno began, twittering nervously, "hi! Guess we found you, huh?"

The couple just stared.

"You're, um, probably going to want to, like, put some clothes on. So, um, we'll be - - out there!" and Juno pointed to the mouth of the cave. "Yeah, out there! W-Whenever you're ready."

She turned quickly and bumped into Ceres. Shoving her sister forward, Juno quickly evacuated the cave. Sailor Moon cupped her forehead in her hand.

"I'm going to be hearing about THIS for a while," she muttered. She felt Helios's hand slither into hers. It made her smile. "Morning, handsome."

"You look beautiful," he smiled.

"Honestly, I don't know what came over me," Sailor Moon said sheepishly. Then she glanced at him with a coy expression. "Well, other than the fact that you're the sexiest hunk of man ever created. It's like - - like the damn burst and I just couldn't stop."

"Do you have regrets?"

"Just one," the pink-tressed senshi admitted soberly. "Now that I've done it - - now that we've shared such intimate moments - - how do I go back to only seeing you in my dreams and a week's vacation twice a year? I want to be with you, Helios. I want you so much that I want to crawl inside you and just be with you forever."

His hand came up and gently caressed her cheek. Sailor Moon tensed. This was where he'd try to let her down gently, she just knew it. Because that was the way Helios was - - always pragmatic, always with an eye for the big picture while she lived in the moment. She knew what he was going to say and, for the life of her, she didn't want to hear it.

"Nothing would please me more, Maiden," he said, his melancholy only partly hidden. "I have sipped ambrosia. Mere wine will no longer sate me. But we still have obligations."

"I knew you were going to say that," she whispered, looking down. "Why can't we just run away to the farthest corner of the universe and just be happy?"

"What has ever been gained by running away? A temporary respite? Nothing lasting - - and you do want our life together to last, don't you?"

"Why do you always have to be right?" Sailor Moon moaned and sagged against his bare chest. She sighed. "So - - any regrets on your part?"

"Only that we did not lie on a bed of satin pillows, in a room draped in silks and heavy with the scent of jasmine," he told her. "The room would be lit by candles in candlesticks of gold. Soft music would play from an unknown source. I would feed you grapes, kiss your neck and explore the wonder that is your radiant being. We would seek new heights of expression for the love we share - - and we would not be disturbed for ten thousand years."

"That's a Hell of a regret," Sailor Moon sighed dreamily. "You're even deeper than I thought you were. And definitely more romantic."

"I am the guardian of dreams," he smiled, cuddling to her. "Who would better know the inner fantasies of women?"

"I'm also beginning to realize you have a naughty streak," she grinned. "That's good. You were too perfect."

Helios nuzzled her neck and the Princess giggled.

* * *

"Are you feeling better, Your Majesty?" Luna asked.

She was perched on the armrest of the chair Serenity sat in. They were back in the communications room of the palace. While Ami stood to one side and peered through her glasses at a hand-held medical scanner, Artemis and the technicians worked on establishing a link with the Zachar home world. Serenity was visibly drained, but unharmed.

"Yes," wheezed the Queen, "though I'd feel a lot better if you'd stop calling me 'Your Majesty'."

"Better to wish for the world on a string," Luna replied in a flowery tone.

"I don't know how such a little cat can be so stubborn," Serenity muttered. Artemis smiled to himself. "Any luck, Artemis?"

"Our signal is reaching," Artemis reported. "They're just not responding. I'm beginning to think that the only thing they would respond to is our surrender."

"And that would be unacceptable, due to the immense hardship it would place upon the people of Earth," Luna said, then turned to Serenity with a stern eye. "Isn't that right, YOUR MAJESTY?"

The Queen scowled. "Yes, Luna. Oh, why do they have to be like this!"

"Highly aggressive, belligerent social structures view an unwillingness to fight as a sign of weakness," Ami explained as she studied her medical scanner. "In a 'kill or be killed' social mindset, weakness is something to exploit." She looked up from her scanner. "You still haven't made a decision as to what you plan to do when the Zacharians return in force. Because I have to advise you that fending off six ships as you did severely taxed you."

"If they come, I'll be ready," Serenity said, though in hardly a convincing manner.

"The power of the Silver Crystal isn't limitless," Ami warned. "If you push yourself too far . . ."

"Ami, we've faced these situations before," Serenity said and Luna could see her inner peace shine through. "If it's necessary to protect everyone, I'm willing to do what I have to - - even at the cost of everything. I hope it doesn't come to that. There's so many things in life that I enjoy. But I understand that I may have to sacrifice that to protect the ability of others to enjoy life."

"I'm just advising you as your doctor," Ami told her.

"Any sign of an invasion force, Artemis?" Serenity asked.

"Nothing yet," the white cat reported.

"See," Serenity smiled. "I've got a little time to rest up."

"Contact with something, though," Artemis said, sending the room silent. "Energy pulse, traveling toward the planet at a high rate of speed. Hey, I think it might be . . .!"

"Endymion," Serenity whispered, the merest hint of a smile on her lips. She bolted from the chair and flew out the door, Ami and Luna at her heels. On the rooftop landing pad of the palace, the Queen waited as the pulse of energy approached. The wind whipped at her white gown and the trails of blonde hair. Luna and Ami followed the golden energy on its approach, knowing it was Endymion because she knew it. The energy landed on the pad and dissipated. Endymion emerged. Serenity ran up to him and jumped into his arms. The King caught her greedily.

"Oh, Endymion, I'm so glad you're safe!" she beamed, then sobered. "Usa?"

"She's safe," Endymion reported, glad to see he'd made his wife smile. "Helios and the Asteroids rescued her. They're bringing her home now."

"Oh, Endymion, that's just the most wonderful news!" Serenity sobbed, burying her face in Endymion's chest. "Oh, I'm so grateful she's all right! You were right, Endymion. You were right to go after her."

"You've been right often enough, Dear," he said, hugging her to him. "Nobody's keeping score." His hand rubbed her back as she clung to him. "I felt your distress. What happened?"

"The Zacharians," Serenity began, still choked with emotion. "They came to take the men away for their armies. I couldn't let them do that! I tried to hold them back and - - oh, Endymion, I hate to even remember it!"

"I see," Endymion said gravely, his expression troubled. Ami could see he'd reached the same conclusions she had. "We're going to have to stop them, once and for all."

"Can we do that?" Serenity asked. "Do we have the power?"

"There's not much choice."

"Maybe they won't come back."

"They'll come - - unless we prevent it."

"Endymion," Serenity began timidly. "Do we have the right?"

"Given what it means for the people who depend upon us?" he said. "I'd term it 'duty' rather than 'right'."

* * *

Finally the couple emerged from the cave. They found her senshi waiting for them. Though there were knowing looks on the faces of Ceres, Vesta and Juno, they tried not to make Sailor Moon feel too uncomfortable. Then Saturn came over. Her violet eyes sparkled with happiness for her best friend.

"I'm so glad you're not hurt," Saturn said, clutching Sailor Moon's hand.

"Sorry if we worried you," the Princess shrugged. "You guys think we can make a stopover in Elysian on the way home? Helios got hurt in the battle and I don't want him flying."

"I am strong enough to make it on . . ." he began. His love cut him off.

"Uh, uh," she said pointedly. "WE are taking you home. I'm not going to risk that shoulder."

"Maiden," he began.

"Don't argue with me. I'm famous for my stubbornness."

Helios sighed. "As you wish."

"So," they heard a man snarl. Whirling around, Sailor Moon and the senshi were confronted with Prince Mehaat. His weapons were drawn and his demeanor was anything but forgiving. "You've assembled a squad of defenders, have you Princess? It will do little to keep you from me. You are my wife and you will return to Zachar with me, whether I have to wade through a legion to get to you!"

"Wife?" gasped Saturn. The other senshi were similarly confused and outraged.

"And what is that?" Mehaat growled, pointing his sword at Helios.

"That's Helios," Sailor Moon proclaimed defiantly. "And I'm not your wife. I never was."

"You were wed to me by the King . . .!"

"I was wed to Helios in everything but name a long time before I ever met you! You have no claim on me, Mehaat. Go home."

"USURPER!" Mehaat roared and the senshi crouched to defend their princess. "I'll gut you for daring to touch . . .!"

In mid-threat, Mehaat paused. He seemed to be struggling with himself. Warily the senshi and Helios looked on. Mehaat visibly tried to gather his conflicting emotions. He looked directly at Sailor Moon, wounded and confused.

"What have you done to me?" he bellowed. "Why does the thought of hacking that pale stripling to pieces suddenly fill me with disgust and revulsion? What did you do? How did you take my warrior's strength?"

"I don't know what you mean!" Sailor Moon yelled back.

"Ever since the pink energy touched me," Mehaat seethed, "I cannot - - be - - what once I was! I was one of the greatest warriors of the Alliance! I cut down adversaries like wheat! And now - - now the thought of killing is something foreign to me! What did you do?"

He glared at Sailor Moon, waiting for an explanation. At first, she didn't know what to say to him. Then a light of realization came on in her red eyes.

"I must have touched your kind side," she told him. "The side your mother put in you. Don't pretend it's not there. I saw it in your eyes when you talked about her when I was on your ship. You've just kept it buried for years because your crazy society seems to think that it's something bad to have. It's not."

"Lunacy!" he spat.

"Don't run from it, Mehaat! You're in a unique position! You're going to ascend to the throne of the Alliance! Once you're king, you can affect change! You can stop the cruelty! You can govern through something other than fear and violence! And then maybe your alliance won't fall apart. You said yourself that it can't survive much longer this way. That's because the hatred that fear and violence breeds is rotting it away from within."

"Weak-willed foolishness!" Mehaat sneered. "Remove this curse from me! Make me what I was!"

"There's nothing to remove!" Sailor Moon argued. "I didn't put those feelings in you! They've always been there!"

Mehaat glared angrily. His sword arm tensed.

"Fauna Assimilation - - Lion!" Vesta yelled, bursting forth. In mid-stride, she changed into a full-grown lioness. Bounding at Mehaat, she leaped, her fangs bared and her claws out.

Caught off-guard, Mehaat recovered quickly. He side-stepped Vesta's leap and brought his sword to bear. Narrowly avoiding the downward slash, Vesta pivoted and leaped up at him again. Knocking her aside with the hilt of his sword, Mehaat then flung a metallic ball at her. In mid-air, the ball exploded into a bolo and caught Vesta around the neck. The lion slammed to the ground, clawing at its throat.

"Beautiful Incantation!" Pallas called out. Instantly rocks launched from the ground and began pelting Mehaat. All she could manage, though, was to keep him at bay. Then Pallas felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Help Vesta," Ceres told her. "I'll take care of him. Floral Stimulation!" she shouted, throwing more seeds on the ground.

Instantly another creeping vine sprang up. It was five times larger than the one on the spaceship, since the plant had more soil to root in. Green tendrils rose up, towering over Mehaat, then plunged to strike. But Mehaat fought them off, using the edge of his blade to hack through the vines and an electrical arc from the hilt to burn them away.

"Aqua Initiation! Pour Down Rain!" Juno cried. The downpour resumed, but was localized so that it only struck Mehaat, the plant and Vesta's lion form. As Pallas mentally worked the bolo from around Vesta's throat, Ceres and Juno kept up the pressure on Mehaat.

And still he persevered, demonstrating the single-mindedness of a great and dangerous warrior. It was Ceres who broke first. The physical assault on her plant filled the senshi with so much pain that she was driven to one knee. Mehaat hacked a path through the vines and pressed on toward Sailor Moon.

But in an eye-blink, Sailor Saturn was in his path, her glaive pointed menacingly at him.

"Leave her alone," Saturn warned him. The menace in her eyes told Mehaat she was serious about the deadly blade she brandished at him. Rain continued to pelt them both.

But he'd faced weapons before. A sword stroke was parried by Saturn and then another. She had speed and wielded the glaive like it was her arm. Still, she was a slight thing and he was sure he could overcome her by brute force. Blades flashed and metal clanged as the two fought. Juno tried to localize her rainstorm even more. Vesta was up and crouched, waiting for a moment to strike, while Pallas watched and worried.

Then a stroke came too fast for him to measure - - and suddenly Mehaat only held a sword hilt. The blade clattered on the rocks near the cave mouth. The point of Saturn's glaive eased up to his throat. Her eyes were narrow, daring him to give her an excuse to split his head open. Mehaat's hand eased stealthily back to the explosives pouch on his belt.

Like the wind, the blade slashed down. A second later, his belt was on the ground, severed, and the blade was back under his chin.

"Do it," Mehaat said stone-faced. "I see the executioner's gleam in your eyes. I will not begrudge you. I do not fear death. If I fall this day, let it be to a warrior equal in savagery to myself." That seemed to shake Saturn's out of her battle trance. Instantly Mehaat readied for an opening.

"OK, Saturn, that's enough," Sailor Moon said, her hand resting on Saturn's shoulder. The moment broken, Saturn brought the blade down, though she held it ready. Sailor Moon looked at Mehaat. He tried to be defiant, but to her eye he seemed to sag a little.

"You even deny me a warrior's honorable death," Mehaat scowled. "How unprincipled your world is."

"There's nothing honorable about death," Sailor Moon told him. "We only gain honor by what we do in life." She turned to go.

"You have not escaped me," Mehaat proclaimed. "You are my wife . . .!"

"NO!" Sailor Moon snapped. "Not now - - not ever!" She reached back to Helios and he took her hand. "My heart belongs to him. There's nothing you can do about that."

"Do not seek to deny . . ."

"Mehaat - - leave," she said. "Go do your world some good. Use what you're feeling to bring about change before your society collapses on top of itself. Do what's honorable. Do what's right. But whatever you do, please just leave me alone."

Turning her back on Mehaat, Sailor Moon waved her senshi and Helios into a circle. The senshi all joined hands. As Mehaat watched in amazement, the wind began to churn around them in a circle as the jewels on their tiaras glowed. When the wind reached a crescendo, the six senshi shouted "Sailor Teleport" and were enveloped by the whirlwind. When it died, they were gone.

Mehaat was left alone with his thoughts.

Continued in Chapter 10


	10. The Tug Of War

THE HOSTAGE BRIDE

Chapter 10: "The Tug Of War"

By Bill K.

Prince Mehaat sat on the ground near the cave where his wife and her pale consort had taken refuge.

"No," he mused quietly. "Not my wife. Any man who can't hold on to what is his can have no legitimate claim to it."

The rains began to fall again. Mehaat didn't move. Instead, he recalled the last look Princess Usagi gave to him before she and her guardians disappeared into the energy field. It was an odd look. It wasn't one of triumph or contempt, rage or fear. It was pity. He was beneath her. His ways were beneath her. His society was beneath her.

Anger grew within him. His first response was to regain his ship, travel to her world and drag her back to his world. Welts would be her raiment and bruises her crown. She would lose her pity for him and his world if he beat it out of her.

And then he stopped. For some reason, the picture of his mother entered his mind. And he realized how much he was like the man he hated above all men in the universe. Mehaat recalled the beatings he took and the hatred they fostered within him for his father. He recalled, too, the beatings his mother took, both for her own 'crimes' and for her attempts to shield her children Mehaat, Sagtehm (killed in action at Altos Garrion System), and Telleem (beaten to death in a premature attempt to overthrow their father).

He remembered the look of resignation she had during the beatings and after. He remembered the sadness in her eyes at her lot in life, a sadness that only seemed to dissipate when he, in his naive youthfulness, tried to console her. She always had a smile for him and a gentle caress, no matter what either of them had endured. And she always told him to forgive, to show mercy, to have charity for all. It made no sense to him, for it flew in the face of everything he was taught. He'd suppressed these memories for so long, because to think this way was dangerous on Zachar. Only the enchantments of Sailor Moon had drawn them to the surface.

"Strength of arm will ne'er rule long," he whispered, echoing the words his mother had taught him. "Only strength of character will prevail."

He swallowed, feeling the tears welling again.

"I understand now," he murmured to no one. "You were trying to save me, to keep me from becoming like him. And you were having your revenge on him by keeping me from becoming like him. I wish you could see me now. Would you be proud?"

A space warp opened overhead. Out of the warp came two Zacharian soldiers with short range rocket packs. They landed near Mehaat. He looked up at them, mildly surprised to see them.

"Majesty!" one of the soldiers said as they both snapped to attention. "Are you injured?"

"No," he sighed, climbing to his feet.

Mehaat walked over to them. Crisply they presented him with a rocket pack. His eyes lingered on one of the soldiers. The soldier was an off-world conscriptee. Though the man tried to maintain a neutral expression, Mehaat couldn't help but wonder how much hatred the man felt for him and his race. It was something Mehaat had never considered before. More residue from Princess Usagi and her pink energy, no doubt. Mehaat strapped on the rocket pack and the trio shot into the air. At seventy yards up, a small warp opened in the sky. They shot through and a moment later were aboard ship.

Moments later, Mehaat entered the bridge. Everyone on the bridge stood at attention until he waved them down. His second in command came over.

"Were you successful, Majesty?" he asked.

"No," Mehaat admitted neutrally. This surprised the second in command, both for Mehaat's lack of success and for Mehaat's lack of rage.

"We have a tracking on the energy sphere that left the planet and on the ship tracking it. Orders, Majesty?"

Mehaat considered his course.

"Bring the ship about," Mehaat said. "Return to Zachar."

"You're not pursuing her?"

Mehaat calmly consulted his chronometer, then looked at Lehemn.

"Are you questioning my orders," he asked with intimidating calm, "or are you just curious?"

"Forgive my curiosity, Majesty," Lehemn said carefully.

"I have an appointment I have to keep with the King," Mehaat responded. "Something that was set up before this bride business got started. I had planned to return with her in tow, but that isn't as important. Keeping this appointment is." Mehaat glanced out at the stars on the forward view screen. "After all, I can't afford to keep His Highest Majesty waiting, can I?"

Lehemn turned to the helm officer. "You heard His Majesty! Come about and lay course for Zachar!"

"Yes, Leader!" the helm officer barked.

* * *

The familiar swirl of air and dust sprang up on the veranda of the Central Temple of Worship of Elysian. The birds perched atop the roof of the open-air temple watched with mild interest. They didn't fly away because there was no threat to life in Elysian. A bubble of energy formed within the whirlwind, then exploded in a shower of light. When the light dissipated and the winds died down, six senshi of Earth and the Guardian of Elysian stood on the marble walk.

"I never get tired of this place," cooed Sailor Ceres, looking around with a wide grin.

"It is nice," Saturn nodded, a small grin on her face as well.

"Can Pallas ride the horsies while we're here?" Pallas begged.

"Not this time, Pallas," Juno told her. "We've still got work to do." On cue, the small blue senshi's lower lip extended.

"Don't pout, stupid," Vesta said, patting her on the back. "When we get home, I'll change into a horse and you can ride me." Her sister's face lit up with delight at that prospect.

"Ah, Helios, you're back! And you were successful in your mission!" Candide called out. Everyone turned and saw Candide, mother of Helios, approach. She was flanked by his two temple maidens, the seer Ravonna, and his reclamation project Fisheye. Candide was still a graceful, handsome woman and obviously relieved that her son had returned. But her relief was short-lived when she saw her son's shoulder. "Helios, you're injured!"

"It is already healing, Mother. Do not concern yourself," Helios said, extending his hand to her. She took it, gathered him in and kissed him on the forehead.

"Princess Usagi, it's so nice to have you back again," Candide said, gently grasping the young senshi's hand. "I'm so happy Helios was able to help you out of your difficulty - - though I was surprised by the method you chose to summon him."

"Whatever works," Sailor Moon shrugged. "I'm just glad he came."

"As if anything in the universe could bar his path to you," Candide smirked. Sailor Moon glanced down, embarrassed. "Do not be embarrassed, Princess. You don't see it, but my Helios shines a little more brightly when he's in your presence. I'm so grateful that he's found someone worthy of him."

"Thanks," Sailor Moon whispered, her eyes locked on the ground.

"All right, Mother," Helios moved in. "Sailor Moon has other pressing duties." Reluctantly Candide backed off, allowing her son to move in. He grasped Sailor Moon's hands and she gazed up into his pastel eyes. "Take care, Maiden, for you carry my heart with you."

"Oh, Helios," she whimpered. "I don't want to go. I want to be with you."

"As do I, Maiden. Be strong. I will visit you when next you dream."

"It's not the same."

His fingers caressed her lips. "It will have to do, until next we may meet in person."

Their lips met. The two embraced reverently, without concern as to how long it lasted or who was watching. When they finally parted, Helios gave her a last, longing, melancholy look,  
then turned away. Sailor Moon felt a hand on her arm. It was Juno, gently nudging her back to reality.

"Come on," she suggested to Sailor Moon. "The King and Queen are probably pretty worried about you."

"I don't want to go," Sailor Moon moaned. "This is so not fair."

"Maybe," Juno replied. "But at least you'll be able to touch him again some day." Sailor Moon turned to her friend and saw the pain still in her eyes. Then she dropped her gaze in chagrin.

Moments later they were gone, headed back for Earth.

"Take care, Princess Usagi," Ravonna murmured so softly that only Fisheye heard her. "You are not quit of this just yet"

* * *

The transport bubble appeared on the landing pad atop the Crystal Palace, whipping the air and dust around in a whirlwind. When it died away, Sailor Moon and her five senshi stood on the pad and looked around.

"Home," Sailor Moon sighed.

"Worried you wouldn't see it again?" Saturn asked her.

"After I was there a little while, yeah," the pink teen admitted. "Thanks for coming for me, guys."

"What else could we do? We're your guardians - - and your friends."

"Yeah, you should have heard how desperate Vesta was to get you back," Ceres grinned maliciously.

"I just didn't want to get in trouble," Vesta scowled, glancing away.

"Uh, Sailor Moon," Saturn said, tugging on her friend's arm and then nodding her attention to the right. "Incoming."

Sailor Moon turned in time and was therefore prepared for her mother's flying tackle.

"OH USA, I'M SO RELIEVED YOU'RE BACK! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?" shrieked the Queen.

"Yeah, Mom, I'm OK," Sailor Moon whispered, at once embarrassed by the overflow of emotion and at the same time grateful for it.

"Are you really all right? Please say 'yes', even if you're lying to me!"

"I'm all right, Mom," Sailor Moon groaned.

"Don't lie to me!"

"MOM!"

The senshi twittered. Endymion intervened and separated them, while Luna and Ami looked on happily. He grasped his daughter by the arms. She looked up into his concerned eyes. He still towered over her, even now. He was still so imposing, and yet her rock of strength. Without any words exchanged, Sailor Moon fell against him into her comfort spot and hugged him. She felt his arms fold around her and for a few moments surrendered to being Daddy's Little Girl again.

For his sake, she told herself. When they parted, she felt good inside. Then she noticed her mother staring at her with the oddest look - - like Serenity knew something she couldn't possibly know.

"Thank you all for performing your duties to the utmost of your abilities," Endymion said, addressing the senshi. "Once more you have all demonstrated that our faith in you concerning our daughter's safety was not misplaced."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Saturn said in a small voice, as the others nodded and Pallas beamed with child-like satisfaction.

"Sailor Moon, I'd like to have Ami look you over," Endymion told her, "but if you're feeling all right, it can wait until a convenient time." He turned to his wife. "Are you ready, Serenity?"

She nodded and extended her hand. He took it.

"Are you two going somewhere?" Sailor Moon asked.

"To Zachar," Endymion told her. "While you were gone, a squadron of ships attacked the planet. Their intent is to impress Earth citizens into their military and exploit our resources. Your mother and I are going to go to Zachar and stop any further attacks."

"Pop, they won't listen to you!" Sailor Moon gasped. "I saw what kind of people they are when I was a captive! They take what they want and they don't negotiate!"

"Then your mother and I will neutralize their weaponry," Endymion said with as grave a tone as Sailor Moon had ever heard him use. "They can't attack us if they don't have any weapons to attack with."

"Do even you two have enough power to do that? If the home world is anything like the ship I was on, these people are armed to the teeth! They have more weapons than people!"

"I am not going to risk another attack on this world," Endymion replied resolutely, "one way or the other."

They started to turn into their energy form, hands still joined.

"Wait!" Sailor Moon cried out. The transformation reversed. Her parents looked at her inquiringly. "Take me with you."

Both parents were clearly reluctant.

"I know I don't have a lot of power, but you're going to need all the help you can get," Sailor Moon persisted. "They've got a lot of guns! And - - and maybe I can help you reason with Mehaat! Something happened to him when I hit him with my Halation attack. I might be able to get through to him!"

The two monarchs glanced at each other. Neither one was particularly enthusiastic about exposing their daughter to more danger. But the longer they didn't say 'no', the more chance she thought she had.

"All right," Endymion nodded. "I have to keep telling myself that you're a senshi of some considerable skill and not just my little girl." He offered his hand and Sailor Moon took it.

"Let me come, too!" Saturn spoke up urgently. They looked at her. "Please, if something happens to Usa and I'm not there - - well . . ."

"We understand," Serenity smiled warmly. She nodded and Saturn scampered over, clutching Sailor Moon's hand with her free one.

"Is there room for us?" Juno inquired. She and the Asteroids leaned forward.

"I wasn't planning on leading an invasion force," Endymion scowled.

"But . . .!" Vesta began to protest.

"I'm sorry, but any others might slow us down. We appreciate your loyalty and dedication, but you can best serve us by staying here."

Vesta's jaw clenched and the others were clearly very disappointed. "Yes, Your Majesty," Juno finally said.

The two monarchs, their daughter and her friend stood on the landing pad, closed their eyes and concentrated. Their forms began to shimmer, each taking on a distinctive color: Gold for Endymion, silver for Serenity, pink for Sailor Moon and violet for Sailor Saturn. The colors jumped together into a swirling rainbow ball of energy, then rocketed into the sky.

Destination: Zachar.

* * *

Prince Mehaat's ship landed in the docking station in orbit around Zachar. From there, he donned a rocket pack and, with the aid of the small space warp technology the Zacharians had dubbed a "jump hole", appeared within sixty meters of the Royal Palace. The rocket pack carried him to the landing site within the palace grounds.

"Your Highness!" the squadron of guards shouted in unison, snapping to attention.

They were all native Zacharians, for foreigners weren't trusted within the confines of the palace except as cleaning and support staff. Mehaat had noticed this before, but it was the first time he'd thought it ignoble. More of the effects of Princess Usagi's strange energy, no doubt. Without acknowledging their salute, Mehaat slipped off his rocket pack and handed it to the nearest soldier. Turning, he walked down the path and into the palace.

Before entering the throne room where his father, the King, worked, Mehaat submitted to a scan search. All entities were searched before an audience was allowed with the King, from the lowliest housekeeper to the King's wife and family. Succession on this world only came through the death of he who was king, and Zachar had a bloody history of sons and rivals hurrying that process along. Leaving his sword and weapon belt outside with the King's personal caretaker, Mehaat entered.

"Mehaat," King Sallaar acknowledged with little emotion. He was even more burly and hard in person than on the screen. Like the good general he was, Sallaar was overseeing troop movements. "Where's that wife of yours? The Earth is being rebellious. An armada is being prepared for flight to the little mud ball, but I thought I might stream some video of their princess being tortured before they arrive. It's a nice touch, don't you think?"

And he smiled that mirthless, evil grin at Mehaat. The man's eyes squinted and his cheeks rolled up and he looked like the personification of everything that was vile in the universe. Mehaat had hated his father for years, but never so much as when he grinned like this.

The Prince straightened up. There was no avoiding it - - better to face the situation with strength and honor. Besides, if his plan worked, his father's wrath would be short-lived.

"She's gone, Your Highest Majesty," Mehaat replied as emotionless as he could manage.

"GONE?" roared Sallaar.

"Escaped," Mehaat continued. "I believe she's made her way back to Earth by now."

"HOW?" the King demanded.

"Confederates. They gained access to my ship through an as yet undetermined manner of matter teleportation and left the same way. I pursued," and Mehaat's jaw clenched for a moment, for it was a fact he was not proud of, "but was defeated."

Sallaar was across the room in an eye-blink. Mehaat reacted with all his considerable skill and experience, but his father was through his defenses with no difficulty at all. Mehaat felt the man's fist explode into his face. Then he was on the floor, sprawled and reeling, with his father standing over him.

"If you were defeated, why aren't you dead?" the King sneered. "You always were weak and useless! Your mother, curse her soul, always coddled you! All her offspring were weak! I've feared the day when you succeed me. It will be a black day for Zachar and the Alliance. The only thing that consoles me is that the day won't come for another forty or fifty years, given how weak you are. It's a cinch you'll never kill me."

Turning his back in disgust, King Sallaar walked back to his throne while Mehaat tried to pull himself up.

"Maybe I should just kill you now and start over," Sallaar grumbled. "Maybe I should lead the armada to Earth myself - - take this pink Princess for my own. She's got some wits and some spit, for sure. Might be good breeding genes, at that. Not a bad . . ."

Sallaar's words were cut off, because suddenly it was difficult for him to draw a breath. As his world began to spin, the hulking monarch sank to one knee. He tried to pull himself up, but his massive strength was draining out of him. Confused, he turned to Mehaat.

"That's right," Mehaat managed to say, though he seemed strangely disgusted and pained. "The poison is finally beginning to work."

"Poison?" gasped Sallaar. "How? Food . . .checked . . ."

"I know you scan your food for poisons," Mehaat explained. "That's why my compound was broken up into components and placed in different foods. Each element scans as inert. Combine two, even three, and nothing shows. It's only when all four are consumed that they combine in the stomach and form the poison."

As he pitched over, dying, Sallaar had to give grudging admiration to his son for his tactical planning. What he couldn't understand was why the boy seemed so unsettled by it all.

"I swore this day would come the day I saw my mother laying dead by your hand in her sick bed," Mehaat told him, standing over the dying King. "Fortunately my plan has been in motion for weeks. I wouldn't have the strength to do it now. I send you to meet Mother and my brothers on the other side, Your Highest Majesty. I hope they're waiting with very sharp blades."

Mehaat turned and walked to the balcony as his father breathed his last. The youth looked out over the kingdom of Zachar - - a kingdom of which he was now king.

"And now, what do I do about my erstwhile wife?" he wondered.

Continued in Chapter 11


	11. The Price Of Disarmament

THE HOSTAGE BRIDE

Chapter 11: "The Price of Disarmament"

By Bill K.

"I can't believe it!" fumed Ves-Ves as she paced angrily in the quarters she shared with her 'sisters'. "'You're not good enough. You'd only slow me down!'"

"Ves, let it go," Jun-Jun groaned, her head lolled back onto her chair in frustration.

"He disrespected us, Jun!" Ves-Ves snapped. "He said we weren't good enough - - twice! We're senshi, aren't we? We're supposed to be the Princess's guardians, right? Or did they recruit us just to be her friends?"

"He's got a point, Ves," Cere-Cere said - - unenthusiastically. "I mean, look who he took with him: The Queen, The Princess and Saturn. We're not exactly in their league."

"We do all right! Maybe if we got a chance, we could prove we are in their league!"

Out of frustration, Ves-Ves kicked one of Palla-Palla's holographic storybooks across the room. It bounced off the far wall.

"Hurt your foot?" Jun-Jun asked after noting the grimace on her sister's face.

"Shut up," huffed Ves-Ves.

"Look, Ves, I'd rather be doing my job than sitting here wondering," Jun-Jun began. "But they call the shots. That's what we agreed to when we signed on. The only thing we can do is roll with it and wait for them to give us a shot." She reached out and snagged Ves-Ves's hand. "OK, they don't trust us to be able to do the job. It's up to us to earn that trust, so we can't just sit around and pout. We have to be ready for when our chance comes."

"I'm not pouting!" growled Ves-Ves. "And this is just one vicious circle! They won't trust us to do the job because we haven't proven that we can - - and we can't prove that we can because they won't trust us!"

"Hey, it beats the orphanage," Cere-Cere chimed in.

"Does it?"

"Yes it does," Jun-Jun told her. "Once you cool down, you'll remember that."

Just then, Palla-Palla entered the room from her bedroom. She walked straight past everyone without acknowledging anyone, and headed for the door.

"Where you going, Stupid?" Ves-Ves asked.

"They're back," was her only reply. And out the door she went.

"Already?" Cere-Cere gaped. "I guess they didn't need us." And out the door went the other three.

Waiting on the rooftop landing pad were Ami and the cats. They were looking up into the sky. The Asteroids looked up as well, expecting to see a multicolored energy sphere. Instead, they found a medium range air car approaching from the general direction of the space craft launch facility outside Crystal Tokyo. The craft expertly set down on the pad. When the engines silenced, the passengers emerged. It was Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. When they spotted the Asteroids, Mars, Venus and Jupiter ran up to them.

"I thought you meant the King and Queen were back!" fumed Ves-Ves, turning to her sister. "Why didn't you tell me it was the Elder Senshi?"

"You didn't ask," Palla-Palla replied innocently.

"I gotta start being more specific," muttered Ves-Ves.

"Is Usa OK?" Mars asked anxiously. "Did you four get her home safely?"

"Yeah," Jun-Jun nodded. "She got home safe."

"Good job, girls," Jupiter smiled as Mars breathed a huge sigh of relief. The Asteroids beamed with pride. "Is she resting?"

"Um . . ." Jun-Jun grimaced.

"Endymion and Serenity went to Zachar to make sure Earth isn't attacked again," Ami informed them. "They took Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn with them."

Anxiety swept over the five elders. Uranus looked up to the heavens.

"Idiot!" fussed Mars. "We just got Usa away from them and Serenity's going to march her back into their hands - - and herself besides?"

"I'm surprised she's taking the offensive," Neptune mused. "It must have been Endymion's idea."

"How can you be so calm?" Mars fumed. "What if one of them doesn't come back? What if it's Saturn?"

Mars could sense Neptune struggling to keep the control she so highly valued.

"They're senshi, Mars - - just like we are," Neptune replied. "It comes with the job."

"Excuse me," Mars said, brushing past them all and heading for the palace. "I have praying to do."

"She's taking it well," quipped Venus. Neptune barely noticed. She moved to Uranus.

Ami watched Mars stalk off. Then she sensed a presence next to her. Turning, she found Jupiter reverting back to Makoto.

"Ami," Makoto whispered shyly. "A-About the way we parted . . ."

"You did what you thought was right, Makoto," Ami told her gently. "I don't hold it against you." She looked down. "I hope you don't hold my decision against me. I was doing what I thought was right."

"I don't, Ames," Makoto said. "You were probably right anyway. You are a lot smarter than me."

"Well, from what I can surmise, Usa might not have gotten home if you and they hadn't been there," Ami countered. "You're a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for."

"Thanks," Makoto smiled sheepishly. "Forgiven?"

Surreptitiously Ami's hand sought out Makoto's and clasped it tightly.

* * *

"Pop, these guys aren't the type who are going to appreciate us landing in the middle of their palace," Sailor Moon thought-cast to her father as they, Serenity and Saturn rocketed through space in their transport bubble. She had to thought-cast, because she couldn't speak in this energy form. Fortunately this energy form made thought-casting possible.

"At the moment, I'm not really concerned with what they'll appreciate," Endymion replied. He seemed calm, but Sailor Moon and Serenity both knew that tone.

"Well, it might be easier to sneak in the back way," Sailor Moon persisted.

"If they're as militaristic as they seem, the back way will be guarded as well," Endymion countered.

"Endymion," Serenity chimed in. "Is a confrontation wisest?"

"Would you rather wait for them to come to Earth again? Another confrontation is inevitable, Serenity. I'd rather have it here than on Earth. I'll give them the chance to end this. If they don't, I'll end it - - with your help."

Serenity expelled a sigh of resignation.

"I think the King is right, Queen Serenity," Saturn offered up demurely. They glanced at her. "I'd rather not fight if I can avoid it. But if they're a threat, I'd rather fight them now than hope that they never attack Earth or abduct Sailor Moon again. I know what it's like living in fear. It's not fun."

Saturn caught the sympathetic look from her best friend. Her grip tightened on Sailor Moon's hand.

With defense claxons blaring in advance of them, the transport bubble landed in the courtyard of the Royal Palace. Amid the scramble of troops, the two young senshi allowed Serenity and Endymion to convert their energy forms to human. No sooner had they done so then they found themselves surrounded by two dozen Zacharian troops. Their weapons were drawn and trained on the four travelers.

"We're here to speak with King Sallaar," Endymion told them. He had a neutral posture and expression, but stood tall and firm and projected as much regal bearing as he could muster in order to lend weight to his words. The gleaming white armor and the sheathed sword at his hip didn't hurt.

"DROP ALL WEAPONS AND SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY OR WE WILL FIRE!" roared one of the soldiers, probably a squad leader.

"We come in peace," Serenity spoke up. "We don't want a confrontation. Please take us to King Sallaar."

"PRISONERS WILL NOT SPEAK UNTIL SPOKEN TO!" bellowed the squad leader. "PRISONERS WILL NOT MOVE UNTIL PROPERLY SECURED!"

"Must we go through this?" Serenity asked, stepping away from Endymion's side.

Instantly the squad opened fire on Serenity, using projectile-shooting sidearms and swords that fired energy arcs. But all their fire was caught by a shield Serenity erected around herself and the others. The energy was dissipated, while the projectiles were caught and dropped harmlessly to the cobblestone courtyard. When they all realized they were having no effect on her, the squad ceased firing.

"NOBODY TOLD YOU TO STOP FIRING!" the squad leader roared. Obediently the soldiers brought their arms up to fire again.

"Oh, poo!" huffed Serenity. She closed her eyes and scrunched her features in concentration for a moment. The soldiers then discovered their weapons no longer worked. "Now may we see King Sallaar?"

"FIRE, DAMN YOU ALL!" shouted the squad leader.

"Weapons malfunction, sir!" reported a squad corporal. This wasn't good news to the squad leader.

"YOUR SWORDS STILL HAVE EDGES! CLOSE QUARTERS BATTLE! HACK THEM TO PIECES!"

"Silence Wall!" Saturn called out.

The soldiers charged the four strangers, their swords drawn and ready to use. But they encountered Saturn's force shield and were stopped in their tracks. Repeatedly the soldiers hacked at the shield while Saturn doggedly kept the shield up. No progress was made at all. Finally, one by one, the Zacharian blades began to break against the invisible shield. Perplexed, the soldiers fell back and turned to their squad leader for guidance.

"SUICIDE RUN!" he barked. "DON'T LET THEM NEAR THE KING!"

Instantly the soldiers charged the four visitors. They had their hands on their belts and it brought back unpleasant memories to both Endymion and Serenity. They each moved to act.

"Moon Princess Halation!" Sailor Moon shouted, holding the Moon Scepter up high. Pink tendrils shot out from the scepter in all directions, each one seeking out one of the soldiers. Once caught and wrapped up by a tendril, the soldiers all fell to the ground. They struggled for a short time. Then the healing energy of the tendrils began to work on them. Each soldier stopped struggling. He smiled dreamily and sagged with utter contentment.

"Very good, Usa," Serenity smiled at her daughter. "You do that much better than I ever did." Sailor Moon averted her gaze in embarrassment and it made the Queen's eye twinkle.

The four were about to head to the interior of the palace itself, but stopped short. From the palace, a massive contingent of soldiers emerged. They were ten across and marched out of the building eight deep. Each soldier had his weapon drawn and ready to use and each marched like a mirror image of the one beside him.

"Endymion?" Serenity thought-cast to her husband.

"I can deal with them," he replied with his mind.

"I'm nearly exhausted," Serenity told him. "And I can sense that you're not much better."

"That's why I let Usa and Saturn come," Endymion responded. "Hopefully we won't need them."

Reaching a point about twenty yards from the four from Earth, the soldiers stopped in a crisp, precise formation. The ten columns took a single pace to the side in unison, like a sea parting, revealing a single man in the middle. He walked forward with an easy gait, his uniform precisely tailored and a cloak flowing behind him. Two men walked behind him and to either side. They could have been guards, subordinates or advisors. He walked like he was above the soldiers, above the visitors from Earth, above everyone. As he drew closer, he was recognized.

"Mehaat," Sailor Moon whispered. Saturn detected just a hint of unease in her voice, for Mehaat's eyes were locked on Sailor Moon.

"Prince Mehaat," Endymion began. "This is not meant as disrespect to your or your position. But we must speak with King Sallaar."

"That will be difficult," Mehaat said, still glaring at Sailor Moon. Finally he broke the stare and focused on Endymion. "Sallaar is dead. I am King of Zachar now."

"I'm so sorry," Serenity offered with immense sympathy.

"Don't be," Mehaat sneered. "Sallaar was a tyrant and a parasite. The universe only mourns that he didn't die sooner." Mehaat's eyes narrowed. "And you will address me as 'Your Highest Majesty'."

Everyone could sense the anger mounting in Sailor Moon. Serenity, on the other hand, merely bowed politely to Mehaat.

"Your Highest Majesty," she said, sweetly and kindly, "we have come to ask you to end the hostilities between our worlds. We don't wish to fight with you, but we cannot give you what you want. What you ask for isn't right. It would adversely affect the lives of so many people on my planet, and I doubt it would do you much good. Please, stop all of this before more people are hurt and killed, both your people and mine."

"Death does not frighten us," Mehaat told Serenity as if lecturing a child. "We do what we must to survive. It is the duty of the strongest to survive and prosper. It is the duty of the weak to be the source of that prosperity."

"An interesting philosophy," Endymion replied. "Perhaps the problem here is your definition of 'strength'. Strength does not always, by definition, equal ability to conquer. Is the person who refuses to take advantage of a superior position and instead uses that superior position to bring peace and help others less fortunate no less strong? After all, any mindless brute can fight."

Mehaat stared at Endymion, as if his words had triggered a memory within the newly crowned monarch.

"Those are the words of the conquered," sneered one of the advisors. Sailor Moon recognized him as the second-in-command from Mehaat's ship. "I've seen more convincing begging."

"Would begging change your mind?" Serenity asked. She felt Sailor Moon grab her arm, but shrugged it off. "If my begging will avert this terrible conflict between us, I'm not so proud that I won't do it."

"Are you that fearful of war?" Mehaat asked, intrigued.

"I prefer life to death," Serenity told him. "I prefer peace to conflict. My pride is a small price to pay. My life is a small price to pay to ensure the lives of others - - on both our worlds."

Mehaat thought. Serenity met his gaze, a beacon of pacifism that he didn't quite know what to make of.

"And what if my price is bigger?" he asked.

"I don't understand."

"I offer you the peace you desire," Mehaat began. "Your freedom from the Alliance and a pledge not to attack your world for your effrontery of disobedience." His gaze shifted to Sailor Moon. "My price in exchange is her."

"Unacceptable," Endymion replied immediately.

"So there is something you value more than your precious peace?" Mehaat surmised.

"How can you stand there and try to barter with human lives?" gasped Serenity, stunned by the offer. "I wouldn't give you men for your conscription before. What makes you think I would trade my daughter for peace?"

"I am a soldier," Mehaat responded. "I trade lives for objectives as a matter of course. It's what I've been taught to do since I was six. The first thing a soldier learns on the battlefield is how cheap and fleeting life is. Conquest lasts far longer than life does and is much more tangible. You're King and Queen of an entire world. How many lives did you climb on in your ascension to your throne? Are your hands any less bloody than mine?"

"What kind of childhood could you have had," Serenity murmured, shaking her head in shock, "to bring you to this point in your life? What kind of family life did you have?"

Mehaat scowled.

"If you spurn the offer, then it is war. Surrender yourselves immediately," Mehaat said coldly, though he seemed to stumble on the next part, "or be destroyed." Suddenly Sailor Saturn lurched forward, her glaive poised.

"No!" she hissed angrily. "You surrender immediately or be destroyed, along with the entire planet!" Her glaive blade began to glow violet.

"By yourself?" snickered Mehaat.

"I have the power," Saturn said resolutely and for a moment Mehaat seemed to see death itself in the slight girl's eyes. "I'll use it if I have to in order to protect them. I'll destroy everything to keep Sailor Moon out of YOUR hands! So YOU surrender! Don't make me destroy this planet!"

Then Saturn felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She turned and found Queen Serenity beside her.

"No, Saturn," Serenity said. "That's not our way."

Saturn's cheeks colored. The strength and fury washed out of her slight body. She lowered her glaive and her gaze.

"Yes, ma'am," Saturn whispered contritely.

"If you're going to appeal to my mercy," Mehaat piped up, "I have none."

Serenity locked eyes with Mehaat again. Suddenly her gaze seemed very startling and unnatural to the newly crowned king.

"I think you sell yourself short, Your Highest Majesty," Serenity told him. "I've met your father. Now that I've met you, I can see the difference. Despite all his efforts to mold you in his likeness, I can see a quality of intelligence and mercy in you. Your mother must have been a remarkable woman."

Mehaat ground his teeth, trembling with rage and something else. The emissaries from Earth all saw the conflict raging in the youth. Was Serenity's innate charm working on the young king? Sailor Moon wondered if it was this mysterious "spell" he'd referred to earlier that he accused her of working on him. And was it just that? The turmoil seemed to have been triggered by mention of Mehaat's mother.

"Mehaat, we can work this out," Sailor Moon spoke up, easing to the forefront of the group. "We don't have to be . . ."

"Enough talk," Mehaat choked out gruffly, his teeth clenched. Sharply he turned to the formation of soldiers behind him. "Destroy them all!"

Continued in Chapter 12


	12. A Mother's Son

THE HOSTAGE BRIDE

Chapter 12: "A Mother's Son"

By Bill K.

"Enough talk," Mehaat choked out gruffly, his teeth clenched. Sharply he turned to the formation of soldiers behind him. "Destroy them all!"

Instantly the soldiers moved to obey. Queen Serenity closed her eyes, as if fearing it was her last moment of life. Sailor Saturn lurched forward, hoping against hope that she would be quick enough. And Sailor Moon locked eyes with King Mehaat, the two exchanging looks of reproach and betrayal.

"SILENCE WALL!" Saturn cried out quickly. The shield erected, but nothing struck it. Already the soldiers of Mehaat were looking at their swords and hand weapons, puzzled as to why they didn't function.

"Must we disable every weapon on this planet before you'll listen to reason?" Serenity asked. Saturn dropped the shield.

"To ask a Zacharian to surrender is akin to asking for his beating heart," Mehaat replied. "We do not give in. We fight to the very last."

Serenity stared at him.

"May we speak in private, Your Highest Majesty?" she asked. "Perhaps it would aid our ability to - - negotiate more freely."

The air was suddenly split with the sound of propelled matter. It seemed to echo dimly through the palace grounds. Mehaat didn't react, holding Serenity's gaze like a cobra. Saturn and Sailor Moon heard the noise, but reacted too slowly.

But Endymion was far quicker. Warned by his inner sense of danger to Serenity and Sailor Moon, the King turned. His hand shot out and snatched something out of the air behind Serenity's head. His hand and arm snapped back and the King grimaced in pain.

"Endymion!" Serenity gasped, turning to her husband and trying to comfort him.

Sailor Moon searched the sky while Saturn glared at the squadron of soldiers, glaive raised. Endymion was holding his hand. It quivered with the tension of pain and injury. Slowly he opened the hand. Inside was a metal projectile, cylindrical and blunted, fired by a sniper for Serenity's head. Pushing past the pain, Endymion straightened up. He faced Mehaat and his amazed troops, opened his hand and threw the projectile on the cobblestone grounds at Mehaat's feet.

"I have been more than patient with you," Endymion said. Mehaat met his glare unflinchingly, but several of his soldiers shifted uneasily. "If you insist on being belligerent, we will have to neutralize you." He turned to the others. "Combine powers."

Serenity reached out with her hand and gently took Endymion's. He began to glow gold as she glowed silver. Mehaat turned to his second and nodded. Sailor Moon turned and extended her hand to Sailor Saturn, the hand as well as its owner glowing pink. Saturn clutched it with her free hand and took on a violet aura. Sailor Moon then tapped on her mother's arm. Serenity looked and saw her daughter's extended hand. She smiled and took it.

From out of the south, fighter craft screamed through the heavens. They bore in on the four beings from Earth, spraying crimson energy beams, strafing the intruders' position. The energy beams were caught by the growing aura of the four and instantly neutralized. Again and again they strafed the position, Mehaat and his squadron falling back from the barrage. The contingent from Earth ignored it as if being struck by falling snow.

At once a pulse came from the four Earth emissaries. The pulse traveled out from them in a circle, passing through solid objects on its path around the globe. The energy fanned out over the entire planet of Zachar. To their amazement, as the soldiers felt the energy pass through them, they found all their weaponry began to disintegrate. Swords, projectile weapons, explosive belts, anything that had been built for a weapon suddenly changed to dust. Uneasy murmuring rose up among the troops. Mehaat stared at them, unable to believe the level of enemy he had taken on.

The glow dissipated around the four Earth emissaries. They took a deep, slightly fatigued breath, then released each other's hands. Mehaat seemed ready to bolt for a moment. Then he recovered. Straightening himself with military precision, Mehaat faced Endymion.

"Perhaps we should retire to the Royal Chambers to," he said stiffly and in a controlled manner, "discuss the situation."

"But - - Your Highest Majesty . . .!" sputtered his second.

"Check the armories," Mehaat replied gruffly. "See if everything is truly inoperable. Do not disturb us until I send for you."

He searched his monarch's face for understanding. Then the officer nodded and crisply went about his task. Mehaat turned and entered the palace. Endymion and his group followed, the squadron of soldiers parting in wonder as they passed.

"It seems that you have me at a disadvantage," Mehaat said as the door to the Royal Chambers closed behind them. The room was sparse and lacking in comforts, though it was thick with trophies and mounted weaponry. An imposing throne on a platform stood in one corner, while a large desk occupied another. "Our intelligence severely underestimated your capabilities. That was my father's initial mistake and one I was foolish enough to repeat."

"I think the only mistakes you made were seeking conquest rather than friendship," Endymion said, his steely gaze locked on Mehaat, "and continually dealing with us with duplicity rather than honesty."

"You're quite blunt," Mehaat replied. "Since you have the upper hand, I suppose that gives you the right. I'll confess to the second. Duplicity is a tactic in war and a good leader uses all tactics at his disposal to achieve victory. I make no apology." He crossed over to a carafe and some glasses. "Beverage?" Unbidden, he poured out a glass and offered it to Endymion.

"Is that how King Sallaar died?" Sailor Moon asked contemptuously.

Mehaat's features clouded over and he averted his gaze for a moment.

"Yes," he admitted, emotion affecting his voice. "Very clever of you. You would have made a very - - interesting wife." Mehaat straightened. "Very well. No more duplicity. I have dispatched an armada to Earth. It was waiting in space when we first learned you were coming. It should be in orbit in, oh, twenty-five units." He met Endymion's eye. "Check if you don't believe me."

Endymion and Serenity glanced at each other.

"Now, King Endymion," Mehaat continued, "you will surrender your planet, your government," and he glanced at Sailor Moon, "AND your daughter to me or my armada will lay waste to your world. They have the firepower, make no mistake about that."

Endymion's hands clenched into fists. Serenity clung to him, while Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn contemplated an attack.

"Now, if you think I'm being duplicitous again, do nothing," Mehaat continued confidently. "If you choose, you may kill me. But be warned: The armada is under orders to attack. Only I can countermand that order. Kill me and your planet loses. So, King Endymion,  
those are my terms. Do you accept?"

"Endymion?" Serenity thought-cast to her husband.

"I can try to get there in time," he thought back. "But the trip here and disarming this entire planet took a lot out of me."

"We can merge energies," Serenity suggested telepathically.

"I'm not sensing a lot left in your tank, either," Endymion replied. "We may have to solve this here."

"How?"

"Influence his thoughts," Endymion thought to her. "It's a chance, because I don't know how strong his mind is, but . . ."

"Endymion!" Serenity mentally recoiled.

"Serenity, I don't know what else we . . ."

"Congratulations," Sailor Moon said contemptuously to Mehaat. The King and Queen turned to her with surprise. "Your father would be very proud of you. You've grown up to be just like him."

"Do not judge me!" Mehaat snapped at her. "You know nothing of my situation!"

"I know a coward when I see one," Sailor Moon scowled.

"Usa!" Serenity said with reproach.

"I am King of Zachar! Ruler of the Galactic Alliance! I must be strong for my people, to hold on to what we have and what we are!" proclaimed the Zacharian. "If others must fall so that we may continue, then so be it! The strong prosper and the weak fall by the wayside!"

"You don't believe that anymore," Sailor Moon sneered. "I can see it in your eyes."

"Because you bewitched me!" Mehaat roared. "You sapped my will with your pink magic! You jumbled my brain and . . .!"

"BULL!" snapped Sailor Moon. "My Halation attack isn't permanent! It wears off! If you're having second thoughts about all this, they were in you all the time!"

Mehaat stopped short, staring as if struck by a hammer.

"The one thing I always thought you were, Mehaat," Sailor Moon continued, "was intelligent - - too intelligent for this. Any idiot can kill. Any lowlife thug can dominate a weaker person and take what he wants. But the strong never rule for very long unless they have the strength of character to be benevolent."

A chill ran through the Zacharian ruler's spine. Mehaat just stared at Sailor Moon, dumbfounded. The words were different, but the sentiment was the same one his mother had always told him in secret when his father wasn't around. They were a deep, cherished memory of his mother, just as much as his memory of her gentle caress or her reassuring kiss.

"You're king now, Mehaat," Sailor Moon persisted. "You can stop this. You may be the only one who CAN stop this! You don't have to become your father. It's not etched in stone."

"I am not my father!" Mehaat barked.

"Prove it!" Sailor Moon barked back. "End this! Change this world! You can be strong and benevolent! The two aren't mutually exclusive! Show them!"

Mehaat turned away, turned to conceal what he saw as weakness and doubt. "What you ask is impossible! Delusional! How can one man, even a king, change an entire world, change centuries of ingrained behavior? We are warriors! These ways are all my people have known! And I'm just one man."

"One person can make a difference," Sailor Moon told him. "All that person has to have is the strength and conviction to stand up for what's right."

"And you think it's that simple? My Mother believed as you do. What did it gain her? She died - - murdered. If I traveled her path, what do you think would happen? My people would revolt. They'd kill me."

"Well, you've said many times that you're not afraid to die," Sailor Moon replied, unmoved. "Are you afraid to change? Your mother wasn't afraid to do what's right. OK, she died - - but she planted a seed in you before she died. That seed bloomed today. Now you have the chance to plant the seed in more people. Maybe you'll die before you see things change, too. But you can change them. You can make a difference. Don't tell me one person can't make a difference. I know better! My Mom made a difference, back on Earth! Just her, by herself, standing up for what she believed in! And you can, too, Mehaat. But only if you have the courage to try."

A pregnant pause filled the room. Mehaat studied Sailor Moon's face, searching for duplicity. He found only the fervency of belief that he remembered seeing in his mother's eyes when she told him of her devotion to him. Sailor Moon was completely different from his mother in every way he could imagine, and yet - - in this one way, it was like looking at his mother reincarnated.

The room seemed to swirl. After a moment, Mehaat realized it was just his conflicting emotions. Every instinct in him told him not to back down. But they were instincts his despised father had beaten into him. Could so hideous and evil a being as he be right about anything? Could so wonderful a person as his mother, and her beautiful surrogate Sailor Moon, be wrong? His experience told him they were, but he could no longer trust his experience. What to do? What path to take? He looked to Sailor Moon, to those red eyes. Could he trust those eyes?

His hand moved to a computer monitor on the desk and hovered over a key. For a moment, Mehaat wondered if he'd descended into madness. He expelled a breath and pressed the key.

"This is King Mehaat Kahrsamn, to Swordthrust," he said flatly.

"Swordthrust here, Your Highest Majesty! Leader Tellnahr speaking!"

Mehaat sighed. "Code sign alpha six."

"Counter sign beta eight!"

"Attack plan is aborted, Leader," Mehaat said. He frowned. "Return to Zachar."

"As you command!"

Wearily he turned to Endymion and Serenity. "Your world is safe. You've won."

"Don't frown, Your Highest Majesty," Serenity said. "We've all won."

The monarch snorted. "It does not feel like a victory. Perhaps in time, I'll come to understand this feeling. Right now, though, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth." He considered his words. "Perhaps that's my father still talking through my words."

Summoning his strength, Mehaat stood up and straightened his uniform. He walked over to Sailor Moon.

"Did you mean what you said?" Mehaat asked. "About my strength of character?"

"It's there," Sailor Moon said. "You just have to control your temper and let your intelligence rule your judgment." She grinned shyly. "Believe me, I know that's hard sometimes."

"Perhaps you are right," he replied, still staring at her. "About one person making a difference with the strength of their convictions and not their sword arm. Had I not witnessed such a thing, I wouldn't be so ready to believe you. You're very wise for one younger than I. And - - in that way you're very much like my mother. And she WAS a remarkable woman."

Sailor Moon felt herself tremble slightly.

"Stay with me?" he asked. "Teach me?"

"I've already got a boyfriend," she whispered. "And your mother taught you everything you need to know. You just have to remember it."

Turning, Sailor Moon accepted her father's offered hand and rejoined her group.

"If you're serious about reforming the society of this world," Endymion said with a wary eye, "I can send you advisors to teach you what works best. Call us. We'll keep lines of communication open."

As they all began to change into energy forms to travel through space, Serenity turned to her daughter and leaned in.

"You handled that situation wonderfully, Usa," Serenity whispered. "I always knew you had it in you."

"Thanks, Mom," Sailor Moon whispered back, silently cursing her flushing cheeks.

* * *

The royal couple and their younger charges reappeared on the roof of the palace amid a glow of gold and silver mix. Naturally Rei and the other senshi were there waiting for them. Serenity was about to ask how they knew, then realized Rei probably sensed their arrival. The Queen glanced in Rei's direction, eager to reunite with her and the Queen's other best friends. But when she saw the contrite look on the fiery senshi's face, it reminded her of the last time they'd been face to face.

As the glow faded, everyone saw Rei start for them. Serenity's hope swelled, and the other senshi stood silently hopeful. But it quickly became apparent that the priest was headed for Sailor Moon and not the Queen. Rei grasped the girl by the shoulders intently. The Queen silently looked away. Everybody grimaced.

"Are you all right, Muffin?" Rei asked. It seemed for a moment that she was going to cry. Sailor Moon just stared for a moment. She'd always been close to her "Aunt" Rei and everybody knew how attached Rei was to her. But this was as intense as anything the teen had experienced. Rei was as concerned for her as her own parents had been.

"Yeah, Aunt Rei," Sailor Moon whispered. "I-I'm fine." The grateful smile she received stunned her just a little bit, but she was happy to inspire it as well.

Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn scampered over to join their friends. Endymion moved to brief the cats and kept an eye on his wife. Serenity hesitated. She looked down, then seemed to gather herself. Sensing the tension, the other senshi held back, giving Rei the first chance to speak - - if she wanted to. But Rei seemed to hesitate, unsure if she still had the right to speak to her best friend.

"I'm glad you all made it home safely," Serenity said to them all, though she looked directly at Rei. Violet eyes sought the rooftop for a beat.

"We're glad you made it back, too," Rei whispered. Then she straightened up. "I'm, um . . . Serenity, I'm sorry for hitting you. I shouldn't have done it."

"I forgive you, Rei," Serenity smiled.

"Not because I was wrong about how you chose to respond to this," Rei continued resolutely. "You can't keep giving in to bullies, Serenity. Otherwise, pretty soon you won't have anything left to give in on." Her resolution faded and her eyes sought her shoes again. "But I should have better control of my temper. There was no excuse for slapping you."

"I never claimed to be perfect, Rei," Serenity smiled, reaching out and touching her friend's hand. "And I've never expected you to be perfect, either. I realize your reaction was from your love for Usa rather than any hatred you might have for me. It's a testament to her that she can inspire such fierce loyalty in people."

Rei encircled Serenity's hand with her own and held on tight.

"She gets it from her mom," Rei said, peeking up at her. Serenity beamed. The other five women smiled warmly.

"So are we still part of the Alliance?" Minako asked.

"No," Serenity replied with relief. "We 'politely declined' their invitation and, thanks entirely to Usa, were able to convince them to accept that answer."

"How much did you four have to break first to convince them?" Haruka posed with a wry grin.

"Nothing - - much. Oh, Usa was wonderful! You should have seen her! How about I tell all of you over a nice big lunch?" Serenity offered. "I'm REALLY hungry."

"Imagine that," Rei commented dryly. Serenity shot her a peevish pout. And all the senshi knew that things in the palace were back to normal. Meanwhile, Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn had reverted to civilian form and were walking down the corridor with the Asteroids.

"So, did you see much action?" Ves-Ves asked.

"Well, Mom and Pop had to deactivate all their weapons first," Usa related. "But after that, I was finally able to get through to Mehaat. I hope it works out for him."

"I hope so, too," Cere-Cere added. "He was kind of cute."

Jun-Jun glared at her.

"Well, he was!" Cere-Cere shot back defensively.

"How about we all go out?" Usa proposed suddenly. "Find a place where the music is so loud nobody can hear and just kick back?"

"Sounds great!" Ves-Ves smiled in anticipation.

"Well, SOMEBODY'S got a spring in their step," Jun-Jun observed the Princess wryly, then glanced at her sisters.

"Yeah, and I CAN'T IMAGINE why," Cere-Cere nodded conspiratorially.

"What?" Usa asked.

"You know what 'what'," Cere-Cere persisted. Usa continued to play dumb while Hotaru smothered a laugh.

"Do we have to spell it out for you?" Jun-Jun interjected. "Cave, you, Helios - - ALONE!"

"Naked!" Cere-Cere added.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" Usa smiled sweetly. "Helios and I were merely observing chemical reactions."

"Yeah, I've had a few 'chemistry lessons' like that myself," Ves-Ves quipped.

"Palla-Palla thinks it's nice that Prince Horsie-Man would help the Princess with her homework," Palla-Palla chimed in. That caused the laughter dam to burst on Hotaru. Jun-Jun and Cere-Cere quickly followed, leaving Palla-Palla once again puzzled.

"So when are you two 'chemistry students' going to get married?" Cere-Cere asked.

"Not nearly soon enough for me," Usa scowled.

The six teens arrived at the quarters of the Asteroids and the four occupants ducked in to change for the evening's festivities. Usa and Hotaru continued on.

"Forgive me if I'm prying," Hotaru began shyly.

"Hey, you know you can ask me anything," Usa replied.

Hotaru gathered herself. "Was it everything you hoped it would be?"

"Well, I never thought it would happen in a cave," Usa chuckled, brushing at her pink hair. "But yeah. Helios was so wonderful. I didn't think I could love him anymore than I did, but I do."

"I'm glad for you," Hotaru said, then looked down.

"What?"

"I'm, well," the girl began. "I've been thinking - - about me and Yutaka . . ."

"He's not pressuring you, is he?"

"No! It's just," and Hotaru cringed, still a victim of her lingering shyness, "I've been, well, thinking - - wondering about what it would be like."

Usa took her hand. "Well, Helios and I just sort of got caught up in the moment. We didn't plan it. But if you think the moment is right," and she smiled and shrugged. Hotaru returned the smile gratefully.

* * *

Later that night - - or more accurately, early the next morning - - six teens returned to the palace from a night on the town.

"Boy, could that guy dance!" chortled Ves-Ves.

"Sound like somebody got swept off her feet," Hotaru smiled.

"Yeah, he was hot. I'm going to have to call him," Ves-Ves nodded, then stopped short. "I hope I can remember his name."

"Kentatsu Yomimuri," Palla-Palla said suddenly, her eyes drooping from sleepiness.

"How do you know that?" Ves-Ves inquired.

"Know what?" Palla-Palla asked blankly.

That gave the group another excuse to dissolve into giggles. But the giggles died away when they looked up and found Queen Serenity waiting for them.

"Uh oh, somebody's in trouble," Cere-Cere whispered maliciously.

"Yeah, right. In for a guilt trip, more like," snorted Usa. The other girls quickly dispersed while Usa wandered up to her mother. The pair walked casually down the corridor. "Kind of past your bedtime, isn't it Mom?"

"I couldn't sleep," Serenity shrugged. "I had to be sure my baby was safe."

Usa was about to object. Then she remembered what they'd all just been through and decided to allow her mother's over-protectiveness this time.

"So how was it?" Serenity asked.

"It was spanking," Usa admitted. "It was nice to cut loose after everything we've been through. And we kept a leash on Ves-Ves, so there wasn't much property damage."

"That's nice," Serenity persisted. "But I meant you and Helios."

The Princess looked at her mother with a growing sense of horror.

"M-Me and Helios what?" she asked.

"Usa, I know what happened," Serenity smiled gently. "OK, I don't know the specifics, but I know you and Helios, well - - got - - romantic."

Usa just stared at her in shock.

"I don't know whether it's because of the silver crystal or if it's just mother's intuition, but I know."

"MOTHER!" gasped Usa.

"You have been taking your anti-pregnancy inoculations, haven't you?"

"Yes, Mother," Usa replied through clenched teeth.

"Good. Usa, I'm very happy for you."

"You are?"

"Well, yes! Usa, I think Helios is a wonderful man! He's perfect for you! You couldn't have made a better choice! And you probably don't see it, but you glow just a little more brightly when you're in his presence."

"Must be another 'mother' thing," Usa mumbled to herself.

"So, was it everything you hoped it would be?" Serenity asked.

"Mom, do you have any understanding of the word 'privacy' at all?"

"Oh, poo! I don't see why you're so embarrassed. After all, you aren't doing anything your father and I weren't doing when we were your age."

"Oh, Mom, way too much information!" scowled the pink teen.

"Well, fine! Be that way!" Serenity huffed. "Oh, and I plan to invite Helios to visit the palace in a few weeks."

Usa's face lit up.

"I think your father and I need to discuss your future with him." Instantly the Princess deflated again. Serenity patted her on the cheek. "And don't worry, honey. I'll handle your father."

The Queen glided off. As she walked to her quarters, Usa silently debated whether seeing Helios again was worth subjecting him to that.

Diana raised up from her sleeping spot at the foot of Usa's bed. She saw the Princess slip into her room. The cat glanced at the chronometer.

"After midnight, My Lady?" the cat observed dryly.

The teen shrugged as she wiggled out of her dress.

"And what did your parents have to say about that?"

"Mom was concerned with - - other things," Usa shrugged, slipping into her nightgown. "I'll probably hear about it from Pop in the morning. I imagine Pop's spy-eyes probably already have the time I got back logged." She flopped onto the bed and sighed. "But I don't care."

"You must have had a very good time," Diana observed.

"After what I've just been through, kicking back was just what I needed," the young Princess said, snuggling up in bed. "Besides, I'm in love."

Diana smiled. "So what else is new?" the cat said softly.

The Princess felt the pillow cushion her head. She took note mentally of her fatigue.

Suddenly Usa found herself laying in a strange, but very soft place. Pushing herself up on her hip, she looked around.

The room was covered by thick, plush satin pillows. The walls were draped in ornate, pastel colored silk. In the four corners of the room were candles in candlesticks of gold, giving off a soft, warm, romantic light. Her ears listened. From somewhere unknown, soft music wafted through the air, the strings caressing her gently as the bass formed a soft, comfortable bed for her senses to recline in. The teen took in a breath and the scent of jasmine filled her nostrils.

Looking down, Usa found that she wore pajamas of gold silk embroidered with flowers of red and white. A sly smile crossed her lips. The Princess closed her eyes and concentrated. When she opened them again, her ensemble had changed to a very sheer, revealing red lace teddy and a red choker, just like the one she'd seen on a fashion stream she and Cere-Cere had perused. Red stockings and high heels encased her legs, held up by rose-crested garters. Her smile deepened.

"Helios?" she asked softly. Usa felt a hand gently grasp her shoulder and she turned to find him behind her. His chest was bared. He wore only pajama bottoms. His platinum hair dangled over his pastel eyes and he was oh so incredibly attractive. She lightly brushed the hair from his eyes. "Just like you promised."

"Better delayed than not at all," Helios said, his passion for her unconcealed. She watched the way his lips formed words and suddenly wanted to kiss those lips. From behind him, Helios brought his hand. It held a bunch of grapes.

Usa giggled. Then she sagged against his chest.

"Well, this is more attractive than a cave," she mused. "But then again, there was a sort of primitive appeal to that cave." She reached up and caressed her love's cheek with her hand. "Guess it's not the place, it's who you're with."

"I could not agree more," Helios said between kissing his love's neck.

"Oh, Helios, I wish this was real," Usa sighed. "After the real thing, dreams aren't nearly as good."

"Some day, My Love," Helios whispered into her ear as he nuzzled her. "This I swear. One day we will be together as man and woman, united for all time. Until then, this must suffice."

Usa took a moment to bask in the feel of her love pressing against her, his hands caressing her stomach, his lips caressing her neck and shoulder.

She was getting those feelings again.

"So is this dream going to last ten thousand years?" she breathed, her pulse quickening.

"Only one night, sadly," Helios murmured in response as he continued to nuzzle her.

"Then we're wasting time," she mumbled. Her lips sought out his.

And in the waking world, a sleeping princess sighed happily into her pillow.

THE END


End file.
